


Deadly Frenzy: Looking for an Answer

by Kenrai



Series: Adventures of the Hero of Time [3]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:09:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 88,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28386048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kenrai/pseuds/Kenrai
Summary: Having rescued the continent of Termina in what seems to others as merely a single three day cycle, the Hero of Time himself at last returns to his home country of Hyrule. This time, to not only continue his search for his missing companion via Prima's 'World Martial Arts Tournament' circuit... But also for the answer that her light provided him with.
Series: Adventures of the Hero of Time [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1827988
Kudos: 5





	1. Preliminaries & a Personal Errand

Deadly Frenzy: Looking for an Answer  
Chapter 1: Preliminaries and a Personal Errand  
Scuffle at the Hylian Hyrax Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Main Theme" - Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).  
"Main Menu Theme" - Ultra Street Fighter IV OST. Scene 2 (First Half).

\--

The continent 'Aurelia' and, at its centre, Hyrule. Year 709, month four; April. Said to be the capital of the very continent itself, Hyrule offers many cultural people and all kinds of glorious races resting in each corner of the country.

Hyrule is said to be the 'Land of the Gods' for its housing of the fabled holy Triforce and birthplace of the religiously-taught 'Sainted Three'; the three golden goddesses of ancient history. The country has been blessed with a well-earned period of eleven years of peace since its bloody and horrific civil war, ending many Hylian, Goron and Zoran lives in its inception.

With great skill in his diplomacy however, King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule manages to discuss terms down to an acceptable arrangement; it is with that, that the worst civil war in Hyrulean history since the days of yore comes to an end. Since then Hyrule has prospered and flourished into a nation as great as its former days of glory; before even the ancient 'Divine Divide' itself, all thanks to its royal family, the divine princess Zelda as well as its loyal servants and proxies.

One such proxy, referred to only as the 'Hero of Time' by his princess, returns home from a mere three day journey in far-off search of a missing companion. Having unearthed nothing of value to his search for his missing guardian fairy, this boy opts to continue his deeply-motivated scour and begin yet another journey, this one focused toward bettering himself as a warrior.

But not before informing the royal family and his mentor of his latest and current report...

\--

Scene 1

"... And you did it?"

"Yes Impa-sensei."

The grin on his face was a powerful one; even in his submissive knelt pose of respect to his mentor and teacher of techniques, he couldn't help but widen the smirk on his face as she listened to him. The Sheikah woman about-turned to eye him curiously, arms still folded almost as if she were somehow suspicious of the validity of his words.

She shook her deep-white hair with surprise, narrowing her fiery-red eyes as she did. "... How...?"

This time the blonde-haired boy rose up his green-hat head to face his mentor with his overconfidence. "What can I say?" He chuckled. "I guess I wouldn't be the 'Hero of Time' if I couldn't kick the ever-loving stuffin' out of a little moon or two!"

Impa rolled her eyes in response, a sigh evident in her contralto. "How old are you again Link?"

He snorted, as if she told a hilarious joke. "Eleven; come on," he shot back in his ever constant grin. "Same age as Zel!"

"I realise you're not equatable to any other eleven-year old Hylian boy in this country...," she began again, re-folding her arms as she 'rounded her disapproving frown on him. "But realise this," she started again, narrowing her eyes in the inflection of her inevitable lecture. "Even a time-travelling boy knows less than an ordinary adult."

The listening Link resisted the urge to roll his own oceanic eyes in response; instead, he chose to bow his head in deep respect to his mentor. "Yes... Impa-sensei."

Legitimately surprised by his display of humility, the frowning Sheikah couldn't help but raise a silver-shaded eyebrow before lowering it and expelling a breath of air through her small nose in satisfaction. Her frown only very slightly slipped up into a tiny smile; something that not even the ever-studious Zelda got to see.

"You'll be an all-star yet." She spoke in her satisfied smile; the former Kokiri couldn't help but regain his earlier grin as he re-rose his head to face her again.

"Link!"

The pair, surprised by the abrupt interruption, could only lose their easy-going expressions in favour of curious ones; as they swung their heads 'round to the dark room's open door, light spilling through, the sound of a pair of running feet echoed out gradually louder. It was only when the darkened form of the wide-smiling Zelda herself began to approach him, pulling her royal dress up so she could sprint toward him, that he even realised it was her.

FLUMP

In a similar series of laughs the two children dropped to the ground as she crashed directly into him with a crushing hug. Impa watched on in rolling-eyed exasperation, holding back a sigh as she did.

"Yeah, I guess I missed you too," the fallen Link smirked toothily back at her atop him. "I know how good-lookin' I am." He added in a less-than-humble shut-eyed smirk.

Zelda rolled her own eyes in a display of her annoyance with him, a grin of her own still resisting on her countenance however. "I just missed you is all," she chuckled, playfully pushing his chest with her hand softly. "Friends can miss each other."

"What do you mean you missed him?" Impa reiterated, hard-red eyes narrowing in half-suspicion and curiosity. "He's only been gone three days."

Although the wise Sheikah was fairly aware of Link's time-travelling abilities, the three day excursion itself feeling much longer for himself, for the rest of them it literally was three days. Zelda couldn't help but play with one of the twisting curls of her stray strands of bright-blonde hair sheepishly, eyes averting the gaze of the two curious-faced warriors.

"W-Well it felt longer... didn't it?"

Link grinned on as he pulled himself up, offering her one of his own small hands as he turned to shrug back at the frowning Impa. "Sure felt as long to me boss." He offered in his knowing toothy smirk. The listening Sheikah wryly upturned her own grin, knowing that his statement couldn't possibly be challenged.

"In any case...," she began again, her arms ever folded as she briefly lowered her silver-haired head to step forward toward them. "Now that you've saved two lands from destruction... what more will you do?" She asked him in a quip up of her eyebrow. "The royal family have no more need of your services; not immediately anyway."

"I was hopin' you'd say that," the young Hero of Time grinned out, turning his body to face her as he did. "Well...," he began again, this time gaining a contemplative frown on his face as he folded his own arms in a display of light thought. "I couldn't find any trace of Navi out there in the Lost Woods, even goin' back through it after Termina...," he admitted, lowering his cerulean-shaded eyes as he thought of the many trunks of hardwood he passed through in search. "So I was thinkin' I'd just keep lookin'." He finished, unfolding his small arms to place a hand on his hip as he re-faced his mentor; an old habit.

"Any ideas where?" Impa questioned quizzically, raising up another eyebrow.

He lowered his straw-haired head again and furrowed his brow before rising it again to about-turn and face the smiling Zelda behind him.

"When I first met you in Hyrule Castletown, you told me there was a place you could sign-up to a fighting tournament in Hyrule Castle itself," he began, his light grin widening a little as he tilted his head curiously. "Is it still there?"

Zelda blinked dubiously before she widened her eyes in realisation to what he was talking about. "O-Oh... you mean the Deadly Frenzy series overseen by Prima?" She batted back, tilting her own head. Soon catching the reflective look in his own eyes as a confirmation she nodded on. "Yeah; it's a series of preliminaries that eventually culminate in the world championships... if I recall correctly," she giggled half-sheepishly, realising her attendant was listening in. She rose a curious eyebrow of her own at the youth's question however, opting to probe him further. "Why?"

He faced her with the wide and overconfident smirk he had soon become known for, smacking his superior left fist into his open right palm horizontally. "'Cause sometimes you gotta look in the last place possible!"

~

"An incredible turnout today, ladies and gentlemen! Thank you, one and all, for joining us on this one auspicious afternoon!"

The man's voice, a recognisable and familiar baritone, filled the air through some unknown means of Aegir manipulation and Gossip Stones hanging on the desk he sat at. He was a fairly well-dressed man, seemingly of familiar repute, clearly acting as some kind of co-commentator for a world-class event hosted by an organisation.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the very first martial arts tournament of Prima's year!" The well-dressed man began in a wide-smiling grin, speaking through the small Gossip Stone he used to magnify the sound of his voice. "The Hylian Hyrax!"

In a powerfully-echoing cheer, the watching crowd and audience let loose the dogs of war within their approving applause and yells, separated from the ring in the centre of Hyrule Castle itself by a small-height brick wall. Watching from the stands going as high as the castle alone, there were many stands situated on each side of the arena bar the back-end, leaving the participants themselves some room to breathe and prepare.

"Hell yeah Marsh! It's ya boi Tasty Seth and Mr. Marshall and we comin' to you folks live at the Hylian Hyrax in lovely Hyrule Castle!" A second man called out through his own Gossip Stone, sitting directly next to the older man he co-commented with. "It's a beautiful summer's day and with the sun shinin', who else wants to see some awesome action?!"

The audience whooped and cheered in response; a powerful echo that found its foundation marked with excitement.

Seemingly dressed far more casually to Marshall's professional garments, 'Tasty Seth' wore a simple casual tunic atop basic light-brown trousers; a complete contrast to his older companion's more rigid style.

"Right you are Seth and what better day to watch the country's greatest duke it out in the very perimeters of the royal family's castle itself?" Marshall smiled confidently through his Gossip Stone, his morale-raising baritone managing to procure another cheer from the listening audience. "We're in the early days of April and you know what that means! It's time to fight for those precious and enviable Championship Points!"

The crowd's cacophonous cheer rent the very skies with its bold and dynamic energy; a promise soon to come for their high-edge morale.

"Okay so lemme it break it down for ya ladies and germs," the ever-grinning Seth spoke out in a similarly bold posture indeed; as he leant back in his chair, legs resting on the very commentator's table itself, he held the Gossip Stone he spoke into close-by as his other hand hung in the air next to him. "We got an amazing number of fighters joinin' us today; over one-hundred!"

"That's a record Seth!" The smiling Marshall nodded in his partner's direction, gripping at his own small Gossip Stone. "Never before in the history of Prima's wonderful competitions have we ever seen quite so many hungry warriors! Especially in an Inaugural Campaign!"

"Hell yeah!" Seth grinned on with his older companion, offering the man a brotherly fist-bump as he leant back into his chair. "Don't go anywhere folks!" The youth smirked on through his Gossip Stone, leaning his body forward on the table to point a finger at the stands ahead. "We're weeding out the weak from the strong!"

"The young from the old!"

"The hip from the not-so-hip!"

"And for the men and women that deserve the title of 'Hyrule's Strongest'!" Marshall finished the banter and wordplay for his partner, pointing directly toward the audience as he spoke. "Don't go away!"

–

2

"No pushing, please! Stay close together to any clan or sponsored team you have signed up with and remain cordial! Thank you!"

As the sign-up staff's megaphone-like words echoed on down to the many fighters waiting back-stage in the preliminaries, the grinning-faced Link himself rubbed his shoulders and stretched himself around in preparation, impatient to get started.

"Forgive me for asking this, but..."

Impa's authoritative tone made the grinning Link drop it in favour of a blinking frown, turning 'round to face her quizzically. She stood over him, arms folded as she quirked an eyebrow up at him.

"How will signing up to an Inaugural Campaign help you find your missing friend?"

Her query, pertinent and telling, made the frowning Link blink back a second time at her before he soon regained his confident grin.

"If I fight in the world martial arts tournament, then my name'll get out there!" He shot back in his overconfident smirk. He pumped a rose-up left fist as he tilted his head at her. "Believe in me Impa-sensei!"

"Yeah, if you manage to get past the first round...," the similarly grinning-faced Zelda teased him with a playful push, knocking him out of his stupid beam. "What happens when you lose?"

"Come on Zel...," the youth batted her way in a casual shrug of his shoulders and a shut-eyed smirk. He edged a thumb in his face's direction as he turned his back to face her, his head instead eyeing her in his boyish grin. "Nothin's gonna get the best of this."

It was only when she laughed in response and playfully knocked him again that he laughed on with her.

"First of all we'd like to thank every single one of you martial artists for coming all this way to Aurelia's capital; the Hyrulean royal family recognises you."

The group of heroes turned their heads to the far-front of the chamber as the man's voice echoed out through the Gossip Stone he spoke through.

"We've managed to count through all one-hundred and twenty-five of you; your confidence is impressive." The man continued in his gracious smile.

Link's hardened grin expanded as he listened, his blood boiling at the thought of a challenge.

"Unfortunately, however, only eight out of you all may progress to the national championships itself," he stated, this time in his professional frown. "So... don't hold back, any of you! In the preliminaries only eight can walk away!"

In complete contrast to the shouty audience outside, the huge group of men and women opted to remain stoically silent as they listened; folded-armed and frowning as they watched. The nameless staff-member could only exchange an unsure shrug with the women resting behind the table around him.

"Now, here are the rules...," he began again, pulling out a clipboard resting on the table behind him. "You will all be divided up into four tournament blocks and only the top two of each block... will advance," the man instructed, lowering the clipboard as he re-faced the hundred-odd eyes staring back at him. "This will all be done in 'single elimination'. Grounds for losing are as follows... lose consciousness, fall outside of the ring or vocally surrendering are all legitimate grounds for loss."

"No fear of that one, huh?" The grinning-faced Zelda teased in the listening Link's direction with a light poke, eliciting a smirking chuckle from the former Kokiri.

"This, of course, goes without saying, but killing your opponent is strictly forbidden," the ma continued on, shaking his head. "Anyone caught doing this will be automatically disqualified; no discussion."

Noticing the weapons littering the room, whether on the backs of the fighters or hanging by the door, he widened his eyes and nodded to re-open his mouth.

"That also goes for those weapons!" He called out. "This is a martial arts tournament, not a weapons' display!"

"Can't use theeeeese..."

Zelda's second tease, and in a sing-song point of her finger, made the listening Link roll his eyes.

Obviously she was talking about his Gilded Sword and Mirror Shield.

"Matches not won without one minute will be decided by a point system," the man spoke. "Now... you may all step forward in an orderly manner to receive your number," he smiled in an appreciative nod. "No trading numbers now!"

"Okay, Link... go get your number," Impa ordered in her ever stoic frown. "We'll be waiting here for you."

The green-wearing youth took off toward the huge gaggle of warriors waiting ahead, turning to wave off his mentor and close companion. "You betcha!"

~

"Sixty-nine... heh-heh-heh-heh..."

In a childish bout of grinning and chuckling to himself, Link marched on back to his companions with the small piece of paper he had procured from the tournament professionals. As he did, however, he swung his blonde-haired head in quick search around the numerous rings and fighters for one in particular.

But, just as before, he could not find him.

Link's lightly-annoyed frown twitched in response as he thought of the one person he had not come into contact since returning to his childhood.

Raynard Van Garrick.

Even when he prepared for his journey to Termina a mere three days earlier he had at least exchanged words with the companions he had met on his first adventure; the Goron, Barkner and the Zoran, Alwyn.

Meeting Raynard, however, was a challenge in and of itself.

Even finding him, the frowning Link thought to himself in a brow-furrowed twitch.

That was hard enough.

Almost as if reading his very mind, the wide-eyed Link could only gasp when the two forms he thought of appeared before him; standing next to one another and around his group of friends were the folded-armed Alwyn and smiling Barkner themselves. Oddly enough, even the grinning Malon herself stood in between them, tilting her fire-haired head at him curiously as she also folded her arms at him.

Oh no, the youth thought.

She gon' be angry.

"Maybe I can play it off."

The grin on his face remained as constant as ever, even as he approached the new enlarged group.

"I thought I was gonna meet you back at the ranch?" The youth shot over as approached, turning his head lightly away from hers. Malon lightly smirked as she turned her head symmetrically away from his own, her eyes limp as she did.

"You never got back to the ranch," she hammered back, suspicious eyebrow shot up in dubious conjecture. "And here I see you're signing up to some tournament and you didn't even let me know!"

"Ma boy's in the doghouse!" The grinning-faced Barkner exclaimed out uproariously, ever the jokester. "Whoo-whoo-whoo!" He whooped on in his toothy smirk, shaking his rock-like fist in the air over the two children. Link couldn't help but pull his head back and laugh, thoroughly amused and genuinely happy to see the Goron. He reached up and slapped his own fist with the man's, grinning back at him in a positive nod.

"'Sup?" He grinned over. "Alwyn!"

The ever aloof-expressed Zoran himself merely smiled in the boy's direction, nodding upwards in acknowledgement.

"It's only been three days," he admitted in his greeting. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon?"

"Neither did I," the young Hero of Time batted back, reaching his hands back to place on his hips; a callback to an old habit. "Honestly I'm still lookin' for that friend of mine." He admitted in his sheepish-looking chuckle, briefly shutting his eyes as he rose up one of his hands to rub the back of his head sociably.

"You've made a hell of a decision entering one of these," Alwyn responded, tilting his head very lightly as he spoke in his modestly-held smile. "You know a lot of these men and women are former military?"

Link's grin extended, but just a little, as he turned his head 'round to pump another confident fist upward, facing the huge group of adults standing around in waiting. "I can't wait."

The listening Barkner threw his head back and laughed. "Like the little bro I remembered! Nice one!" He laughed on good-naturedly, reaching down to offer his rock-like hand. Link swung his head back and chuckled as he slapped his left hand with the man's much larger raised right one.

"So... what number did you get?" The frowning Impa questioned, her arms ever folded. The blinking Link swung his own frown toward her before flashing his ever-constant grin, pulling out the small piece of paper to show her with.

"Check it." He grinned her way, tilting his body at her as he held the paper open for her to see. She rose an eyebrow as she leant forward briefly to look at it.

Sure enough, just as he mused on his way back, it said 'Sixty-nine'.

She rolled her eyes and smiled, eliciting an amused giggle from the listening Malon and Zelda. "All right, all right... settle down those nerves," the attendant warned, her brow furrowing down at the youth. He pulled back his paper and frowned, opting to nod in respect. "You'll need come match time."

"She's right," the astute Alwyn nodded in his own business-like frown; ever the pragmatist. "No matter how strong you think you are... there will always be someone out there stronger."

"Ain't that the truth," Barkner agreed with in his cracking grin, placing his hands on his hips as he did. "There's a national champion somewhere around here, after all..."

"Yeah... and you lookin' at him." Link shot back, edging an overconfident thumb in his face's direction. Alwyn shook his head in his disapproving if, amused, smile and the watching Impa sighed through her nose, disappointed.

"Link..."

Malon's surprisingly delicate soprano surprised the listening Link; he swerved his blinking head 'round to cast his frown at her, curious and all.

"Are you sure you wanna fight in that?" The little farm girl creased her face as she looked him up and down, seemingly denouncing of his battle-wear.

"What's wrong with how I look?" He countered, half-offended as he held up the tunic's fabric that he wore, reaching down to sniff at it almost as if to see if it was possibly the smell. "I've always loved this tunic."

"I think I know what she means," the smiling Impa interjected with, surprising the listening children. She reached back into her inventory and smiled on as she procured what seemed to be a gift, wrapped completely in plastic. "The princess and I got wind of your intentions in taking part in this year's season," the Sheikah claimed in her light smile, briefly exchanging a nod with the listening Zelda. The watching Link, his curiosity piqued, could only look between them in an unsure frown. "And... so..."

She leant down the wrapped gift forward, seemingly clothes of all things, and the wide-eyed Link could only hold back a gasp as he graciously accepted it.

"I give you a robe more... befitting the Loftwing-Style and our dojo," the smiling Impa nodded down to the garments wrapped in plastic, now resting in his grateful grip. "I trust you'll make not only me, but the royal family itself proud today." She said, bowing forward in her folded-armed smile as she finished her sentence.

The grin on Link's face threatened to split his face; he laughed in his great cheer, his morale raised as he lowered his form to return the social gesture.

"Go put it on!" Zelda smiled forward, joining her hands together as she did. "I imagine it will fit you quite well!"

"There won't be time," Alwyn disagreed with in his practical-headed frown, shaking it lightly as he spoke. "The staff tend to move through these blocks as quickly as they can; less time waiting for the competitors and for the tournament to begin, the better." He further elaborated on in a simple tilt to his Zoran head.

"Don't tell me...," the listening Link grinned forward, lowering the robes he carried in his hands to stare up at the former military man. "You've signed up? The both of you?!" He asked, excitably switching looks with each of his watching friends.

"Maybe...," the grinning-faced Barkner teased, swerving his own listening smirk with the rolling-eyed and smiling Alwyn. "Guess you'll have ta wait and see!" He shot back, turning back to face the boy with a wide shut-eyed grin.

"This is gonna be too hype!" The former Hero of Time shot out with, pumping another exuberant fist as he did. "I can't wait for-"

"Numbers sixty-nine and forty-one, please approach arena 'E!'"

"That's you!" Impa grinned lightly down in his wide-eyed, surprised direction. "You want to leave all your equipment here?"

"I probably should, huh?" The youth grinned back, reaching back for his inventory and his belt to remove his sheath and Mirror Shield from his back, remembering the staff's warning about weapons. "Ain't as if I'll need 'em anyhow."

"Just be careful over there, okay?" Malon frowned as she stepped closer toward him, lightly surprising him with her proximity. He felt awkward as she pawed away at the creases on his tunic and the mess of his curtained hair. "No-one cares whether you win or lose; we just don't wanna see you injured."

"Pft!" The young Hylian shot back, his grin soon returning to his face. "That's just something losers say!"

Although she would normally disapprove, the listening Impa quirked a very tiny grin; one that not even he would be able to have caught even if he were looking for it. Alwyn shook his head in his smile and Barkner threw his head back and laughed. Zelda tilted her head and smiled over at him, similarly amused.

Malon, annoyed, swung her hand in a slap in which he managed only barely to avoid, an amused grin on his own present on his face. "Fine," she batted back, rolling her eyes as she returned to the group. "Go get your leg broken; see if I care."

"I'll be back a winner!" The exuberant youth shot over his shoulder with a grinning salute before running toward the crowd of warriors ahead.

"I know why you're here...," Impa began, this time in a curious and pressing frown, casting her words down to the similarly quizzical-faced Malon. "Delivering your ranch's milk and all, but..."

"We're here for this!" The widely-grinning Barkner interrupted politely, ever in his high-spirited friendly banter. "Big brother Darunia was still in the neighbourhood, dealin' with king Daphnes and all, so he invited us all here!"

Impa, genuinely surprised, exchanged a look with the smiling and nodding Zelda.

Sure enough, she thought.

They must be out there in the audience stands.

"Yeah, same with king Zora," Alwyn agreed with in his business-like frown, nodding as he did. "I'm here to protect his lordship but, things are so damn peaceful here there's almost no need," he shrugged in his frustrated frown. "I asked to participate... they gave the okay."

"I guess Link really will have his limits tested today, won't he Impa?" The ever articulate Zelda smiled on calmly, her hands joined at her front as she rose her head to face the Sheikah with. Although Impa opened her mouth to respond, the irritated Malon did it for her.

"Hmph!" She shot back, rising up her fire-haired head as she shut her eyes in her annoyed scowl. "I hope he sprains his ankle out there for all I care!"

–

3

"Mr. Yezhov Urvan and Master Link Firbrand!"

Even as the grinning-faced Link stepped up past the huge gaggle of fighters and walked up onto the ring, the group of warriors behind him all let out shocked and surprised gasps, perhaps at the immense difference in the preliminary match-up.

One, a huge and hulking brute of a man of some foreign country; possibly a wrestler.

And the other, a tiny blonde boy.

"That's not legal is it?"

"Why the hell are they lettin' kids sign-up?"

"This is stupid."

"Waste of time!"

The chuckling and chortling behind him only intensified the listening grin on the silent-faced Link's expression.

Just you all wait, he thought to himself confidently.

Gonna get my name out there.

"What is this?" The large man rumbled down, his brow furrowing almost as if he were looking for the standing youth. "Where is fighter?" He questioned, swerving an annoyed look toward their referee, standing just outside the ring.

"You're... looking at him," the man chuckled, pushing up his spectacles awkwardly in response. "Master Link Firbrand of the Kokiri Forest." He reiterated, briefly looking at the clipboard in his possession.

"I am to fight child?" Yezhov asked again, near unable to believe it. "This is outrageous...," he muttered out, turning his bald-headed head back 'round to frown down at the smirking Link. "Very well... come boy," he sighed into submission at last, adopting a wrestler stance. "Fight with strength of one-hundred bisons."

The former Kokiri cracked his neck, from left to right, before eventually opening his own mouth to respond with. "Sure."

"Begin!"

Even as the foreign wrestler shambled forward, the grinning-expressed Link's face opted not to change its countenance; indeed, even his huge and lumbering form approached presumably to grapple him, the image of his smirking-faced stature merely remained constant.

"Mmmmmuscle!"

The glaring-faced Yezhov reached forward to grapple the unmoving Link and, to his and the spectators' complete shock, his arms merely passed through mere air.

"What in the-?"

It was only when he saw the boy's grinning-faced form shimmer in and out of itself that he realised he'd been tricked.

And by then it was far too late.

"HEYT!"

SLAM

"Gurgh...!"

Yezhov's eyes widened as his back was struck with enough force to send him sheerly careering through the air. Numerous watching fighters widened their own eyes as they ducked and stepped out of the way to avoid falling with the woe-begotten wrestler. Even as he smashed through the very wall itself, the watching staff all visibly sighed almost as if it was a normal occurrence for them.

Perhaps it was the first of many.

The simply-smiling Link dropped down to the ground, having delivered with his counter-attack air kick with ease. He swung his blonde-haired head 'round to the referee and rose an expectant eyebrow; similarly shocked by the proceedings, the referee blinked back at him before shaking his head of the surprise and smiling.

"Sixty-nine advances!"

The smile the youth wore evolved into a confident smirk, shooting a clenched fist up in victory. He basked in the sound of the shocked wide-eyed murmurs and gasps of the adults that watched him walk back to his group of companions, the feeling of having his ego stroked just too addictive.

What's it gonna be like when I win, he wondered silently.

~

"Numbers thirty-two and forty-one please approach arena 'B'! Raynard Van Garrick and Dirk Bartlett!"

Link's grin very quickly switched in favour of an interested frown; he darted his head and his eyes in search of the source of that particular voice.

I know who that is being called, he thought.

His legs carried him through the many towering adults around him, looking for arena 'B'.

"H-Hey... lemme through!" The annoyed youth called out, poking his blonde-headed scowl out of the gargantuan forms of the men and women around him. At last he managed to squeeze through, thanks to his small form, and widened his eyes when he did.

"The rules are as follows... either fighter loses through ring out, surrendering or falls unconscious!" The second referee called out as she watched from her own perch outside the ring. "Got that?"

"Why am I fighting with a child?" The annoyed man in the ring responded, swerving his miffed frown toward the woman. "This is an insult."

"There are no written rules against children signing up I'm afraid, not yet anyway Mr. Bartlett," the woman explained fairly briefly, an apologetic smile on her face. "We're very sorry."

"What are you whining about?"

The man, surprised by the boy's impudent words, swung his head back 'round to his front almost as if to verify it was the boy himself who responded in such a way.

"If you can't even agree to fighting me how do you expect to win the rest of the tournament?" He added on cheekily, earning an annoyed glare from the listening man.

He was a young one at that, with a mess of spiky ebony-hair littering his head he wore a matching headband that the watching Link remembered from his days in Hyrule's alternate future.

He must have always had that, he thought in an amused grin.

A simple-enough brown-shaded tunic adorned his body marked with a tattered grey-shaded cape-like cloak held fairly well across his shoulders.

Sure enough, even as the grinning-faced Link watched, it was definitely him.

Raynard Van Garrick, in the flesh.

It feels good to see him alive in this timeline, the former Hero of Time thought to himself, resting his chin against his raised arms and his arms against the edge of the ring itself.

"Feels weird seein' him younger though."

"Begin!"

Almost immediately the larger and taller man bound forward, his pride perhaps hurt by his much younger opponents earlier comments, and grunted as he spun his body in a low sweep almost as if to knock the youth down and send him tumbling out the ring. The narrow-eyed Raynard, instead of evading, opted to bolster his position by boldly shooting down his leg horizontally as if to somehow discourage his opponent from continuing.

He opted not to heed the warning however.

FWIP-SMASH

CRRRRRRACK

"ARRRRRRRGH!"

In a painful-sounding breach indeed, the wide-eyed Dirk's leg dropped lifelessly in its failed assault, the rest of his body dropping down to the ring. He gripped down at his seemingly broken leg, whimpering and near crying from the pain he endured. The watching audience, all murmuring and whispering, appeared not to catch what had exactly happened.

But the wide-eyed Link did.

When the man's defenceless leg spun forward in its winding sweep, Raynard's use of concentrating his Aegir in one place on his body – specifically the point of impact – managed to create a stone-like defence that mere flesh could not hope to move.

It was fairly basic but a fearsome technique for those impatient enough to win their matches.

Raynard turned his annoyed frown 'round on the referee watching them, quipping an eyebrow up as he did.

"Well?" He pressed her with in his usual rude tone. "Aren't you gonna call it?"

"O-Oh!" She exclaimed out, also visibly surprised by the unlikely proceedings. "Sir? Do you forfeit?" She asked, leaning toward his wincing and lying form.

"Y-Yeah, whatever! Just get me to a doctor!"

"Number thirty-two advances!"

The listening Link couldn't help but wince for the poor injured man, having obvious had no idea what exactly he was up against. As the firmly-frowning form of Raynard hopped down from the ring back to ground level and a crowd cleared for him however, Link regained his grin as he turned to walk over toward him. Surprised by it, Raynard double-took in the youth's direction when he noticed him approach.

"That was awesome!" The exuberant youth grinned out clenching his fists at his sides as if in display of his excitement. "You really got some skills, huh?" He added, tilting his head as he re-straightened his posture to place a hand ever on his hip.

He narrowed his light-brown eyes in a half-suspicious and half-curious gaze, looking the boy up and down as if he were some kind of oddball. "What's it to you?" The glaring-faced boy spat back, ever in his annoyed tone.

"It's nothin' as bad as you think!" Link shot back in his high-spirited grin, re-lowering his head this time almost as if he could tell what the boy was thinking. "I guarantee it."

A kind of awkward period passed between the two youths as they stared one another down; Raynard in his usual hard-faced and stubborn scowl and the smirking-expressed Link in his head-tilted peer.

"Is... everything okay...?"

It was only when the curious-eyed Impa and the rest of Link's companions that came over to check on him, that the two boys were pulled from their engrossed glare.

"Impa-sensei!" The grinning Link greeted, nodding his blonde-haired head upwards. "Yeah, I was just congratulatin' Ray in his victory." He claimed, hand on his hip before widening his eyes when he realised he hadn't introduced them.

It's easy to forget that it's only me that remembers meeting everyone here more than once, he thought in a half-miffed chuckle.

Time travel can be sticky business indeed.

"This is Raynard... Van Garrick I think?" He added curiously, turning to face the folded-armed boy in his quipped up eyebrow as he did. Receiving little to no response he turned back to his group of companions. "I was thinkin' he could maybe joi-"

"Not interested."

In a low-toned tenor interruption, Raynard grunted out his hard-eyed response as he pushed past the blinking Link to leave him half-surprised and reeling.

Although in his earlier time with Hyrule's resistance he would have felt fairly insulted, he merely regained his happy-go-lucky grin and shook his straw-haired head in expectance and amusement.

He's just like I remembered, the grinning boy thought.

It soothed his guilt well in seeing him alive for having killed him in the timeline he had come from.

"Stay away from that boy Link."

"Huh?" The young Hylian merely murmured out curiously, swinging his blinking frown on his mentor. "Why?" He requested, raising an eyebrow up as he did.

The Sheikah frowned deeply as she re-opened her mouth to respond. "A decree from the king himself," she claimed in a shake of her silver-haired head. "Anyone from the Van Garrick clan is not to be engaged with lightly."

Link couldn't help but make a face in half-frustration, raising another eyebrow as she spoke.

"That's so shameful...," the listening Zelda frowned out, hands ever joined at her front. "He's just a child... what has he done wrong?"

"It's not what he has done," Impa responded with, swerving her head to lightly frown down at her princess. "It's what he will do eventually." She finished in a fairly cryptic ending.

The listening Link wanted to press her for more information but he knew she'd probably disapprove.

Whatever it was, he thought...

It was serious.

"Yeah I've seen him wandering around Hyrule Castletown a few times while I was there," the standing Malon frowned out to add to the conversation. "He's always seemed a little... weird."

"Yeah... I guess he is weird," Link murmured out in frowning agreement of his own, turning his head 'round to watch his former black-haired rival march away. "But I reckon he's a decent guy." He finished, this time ever in his hopeful little grin.

Malon rolled her sky-blue eyes at him, his sociable grin infecting her into one of her own. "You think everyone's decent though."

"I mean, aren't they at their core?" He batted back as he swerved 'round to face her, gesturing his statement with a hammed-up shrug that she reached forward to playfully hit him with, similarly grinning as he retreated back a few steps.

He swung his smile up to his mentor however when he noticed the absence of his other two friends.

"Where's-?"

"In their preliminary match-ups," Impa cut him off in her own light smile, having sensed his inevitable question. "I imagine they're making quite a stir." She chuckled, turning her attention over to the far-off forms of their two companions.

"You damn right they are," Link whispered out, his grin widening as he turned 'round to a similar stare of his own; as he watched each ring knock out multiple fighters in a quick gauntlet of single eliminations, he couldn't help but clench his fingers into another excited fist. "And I'll be no exception!"


	2. Preparations and Round one: a Fight to the Finish

Chapter 2: Preparations and Round One; a Fight to the Finish  
Scuffle at the Hylian Hyrax Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Main Theme" - Street Fighter V (Vanilla) OST. Scene 1 (First Half).  
"Character Select" - Street Fighter IV (Vanilla) OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).  
"Solitude" - Tekken VII OST. Scene 2 (First Half).  
"Mishima Dojo" - Tekken VII OST. Scene 3 (First Half).  
"Time to Reflect" - Beyblade (2001) Season 1 OST. Scene 3 (Second Half).

\--

In his not-so-glorious return to his homeland country of Hyrule, the Hero of Time wishes very dearly to rebound back to his search for his missing companion; the one person that the now deceased Great Deku Tree once sent to him as a final trump card for the chaos of the Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai.

The guardian fairy, Navi.

For reasons still unknown even to the wise princess Zelda herself Navi's calming cerulean light, when washed over the enraged Kage's form, cooled him down and successfully sent him crawling back into his second-side's subconscious; a feat that even Link himself has had much trouble with in the past. It is with this in mind that he chooses to sign up to Prima's 'Deadly Frenzy' series of national championship qualifiers; martial arts tournaments in each country of the continent of Aurelia, all in the hopes of getting his name out there for her to see...

Getting stronger, however, is always a nice bonus.

Having progressed not just through his own match-ups with relative ease, he also finds his former companions from his first journey through Hyrule – Barkner the Goron, Alwyn the Zoran and Raynard the Hylian – having also signed up to the preliminaries. In shooting through them with their similarly high level of power, the four powerful contenders soon find themselves qualifying for the finals of the tournament itself; half of the final roster at that.

Eight competitors all pass for the Hylian Hyrax; the country's official martial arts national championship itself, one of them the former Hero of Time himself. Joined by his mentor Impa and his two close companions, Malon of Lon Lon Ranch and the country's princess herself, Link hopes not only to reach the grand finals but for his rival Raynard not to lose before.

For their friendly rivalry, once started within the ruined future in which he had come from, has not ended either...

\--

Scene 1

"Good morning to you, one and all; we're broadcasting here to you all live from lovely Hyrule Castle!"

Mr. Marshall, one of the competition's co-commentators, smiled through the small Gossip Stone he used to speak through, his baritone carrying through it to the watching and cheering audience in the stands surrounding him.

"Your gracious patience has at last been rewarded!" He spoke again, ever in his sociable smile. "Our preliminary fighters have all been decided!"

"Oh you better not be jokin' right now Marsh!" A young man's voice exclaimed through a second Gossip Stone; sure enough, it was the rambunctious Tasty Seth commentating with the older man. "Don't be playin' with my emotions!"

Marshall chuckled, shaking his head as he turned briefly to face his younger companion and workmate. "I promise Seth," he smiled dutifully, nodding his head toward him before re-facing the cheering crowd. "We have an incredible variety of warriors that all shot through the preliminaries as if they were simply a walk in the park! Eight of them!"

"You gettin' ma blood up Marsh!" Seth exclaimed in a laughing whoop, leaning back in his chair as he did. "Tell me who these guys are!"

"Right you are Seth," the smiling Marshall nodded in the youth's direction before turning back to the audience as he re-opened his mouth. "Our first qualifier is a young man from the Hylian military himself!"

"Can't knock the soldier-boys Marsh!" Seth grinned in from the side. Marshall chuckled good-heartedly as he reached down for the clipboard in his hands, as if to read from.

"Grayson Starbrook is a man with roots in neighbouring Kakariko Village, fighting for his family in peaceful times," Marshall smiled on, re-adjusting his spectacles as he read from his information sheet. "He's using his fighting skills gifted to him by official Hylian military!"

"Nothin' too fancy I hope!" The grinning Seth shot in with.

"Ha-ha, basic self-defence of the Loftwing-Style; a standard of the Hylian military's training program," Marshall answered his studious assistant, smiling on as he did. "Although I hear they keep only the most demanding of techniques unique to the Loftwing-Style reserved for those who can manage them!"

"Aw hell yeah Marsh! Let's hope we see some of those!"

"Next up is Lyna Greene!" Marshall continued on. As he spoke, similarly to earlier, a face lit up on a Gossip Stone seemingly used as a projector for images for their edification.

A young woman's face rested across it, her otherwise pleasing countenance marked with numerous scars. A messy-haired head of teal-shaded hair sat upon her head, joined together in what seemed to be a hastily-drawn ponytail, similarly shaded to her hardened eyes.

"She's a mainstay regular, here to prove her mettle in the ring as Hyrule's finest!" Marshall claimed, clicking his fingers in recognition as he pointed his small Gossip Stone toward the audience.

He received an approving cheer in response.

"Daaaamn I remember the last match she was in!" Seth called out, surprised and shocked. "That guy was lucky to leave the ring alive!"

Again, the crowd roared in approval, excited for the tournament to begin.

"Wise words my young friend," Marshall chuckled knowingly, nodding his head in the youth's direction before re-facing the front. "Having taken part in five Aurelian tours of the Deadly Frenzy series, Lyna Greene is one tough customer!"

As he spoke a record shot up in the display of her picture; three statistics, all marked with a letter.

Lyna Greene

Aggressiveness: A

Agility: S

Grapple Countering: A

"This one's a firecracker ladies and gentlemen!" Marshall's smile turned to a smirk as he leaned forward in his seat. "I have never seen Lyna caught within a wrestler's grasp! Ever!"

"She's just too damn quick Marsh..." Seth laughed next to the man, shaking his head.

"Woe betide any of our newbie fighters that are unfortunate enough to be matched up against her! She offers no mercy!"

"Speakin' of newbies we got a lot of 'em this year folks!" The ever-grinning Seth segued in. "Steppin' up to the plate for the Gorons this year is Barkner Elbrus!"

Just as with the young woman earlier, the picture of a smiling-faced Goron shot up on display; he stood in a simple standing posture, his right fist clenched toward the display itself.

Barkner Elbrus

Defensive Ability: S

Grapple Countering: A

Side-Stepping: A

"Mr. Elbrus is a man most of you may know as another former competitor! With his powerfully-composed defence, no man or woman has gotten through Barkner's well-utilised shields lightly!" Marshall offered in, an excited grin on his own face as the audience cheered again. "Although he's not as quick as the average fighter... don't let that fool you! He will slowly, but very surely, whittle you down to your last breaking point and steal victory from its very grasp!"

"Not the most exciting way to win but hey," Seth agreed in his own laughing beam. "Whatever works!"

"Next up we have another former military man on the roster!"

"Me like-a-da-military!" Seth grinned, eliciting a mixed reaction of joking boos and laughs from the audience.

"He's a man of few words and stronger still; you know him, you love him... it's Alwyn Weirson!"

In a powerful war-cry of screams and whoops for their favourite to win, the watching crowd called on for their challenger as Barkner's picture was soon replaced by the frowning-faced and folded-armed Alwyn himself. His body, though tilted to its side as usual, he stared back in a business-like expression that said it all.

Alwyn Weirson

Combination Damage: A

Agility: S+

Punishment Proficiency: S

"This man is a dangerous one folks!" Marshall began, this time in a narrow-eyed frown. "Although they say a Zoran isn't at home when on land; don't believe it! Alwyn's time in the Zoran military has served him well! His years of battle experience have been hardened through decades of dedication and knowledge!"

"This is a guy that was in the civil war Marsh!" The grinning Seth shot in with. "You can't beat all that experience!"

"Wise words my friend," Marshall smiled along in nodding agreement. "One would be wise not to take him lightly! Or our next challenger for that matter!"

Just as he spoke, the large space the staff used to display their competitors' pictographs lit up once more as it switched from Barkner's picture to a new one entirely; a dark-blue aqua-haired man stared back, his light-green eyes lit up in the irises of his cornea.

Kaiser Pashkov

Side-Stepping: A

Agility: S

Grapple Countering: A

"Hailing from the far-off lands of Aurelia's Stralanavia, Kaiser is an odd one!" Marshall began his introduction with another sociable smile. "He's been known in his fighting style to sport a kind of quick hit-and-run fashion to his technique! Something that has caught its fair share number of opponents off-guard!"

The listening Seth grinned on exuberantly. "Gotta love those Strahskies Marsh!"

Marshall chuckled on, amused. "Up from him we have Catriona Burcania!"

As he spoke, the assistants managed to change the display once more and a young girl's pictograph was emblazoned upon the wall that they used. She wore relatively short auburn-brown hair, perhaps to match her choice in battle, and carried simple-enough chestnut-brown eyes to match.

Catriona Burcania

Aggressiveness: S

Tenacity: A

Agility: A

"Marsh I love this chick! She's a damn bomb when she gets close!" Seth exclaimed out excitedly.

"She can be at that," Marshall agreed with his younger co-commentator, chortling on in light amusement. "Catriona is a young woman hailing from the lands of Palashia. Catriona has been known wide-over for her clan's stubborn style of martial arts; something that's reflected in her questionable win-loss ratio within the Prima World Tour!"

"Yo, I don't care what they say Marsh!" Seth called out, shaking his head vehemently. "She's always been my favourite to win!"

"I imagine so," Marshall grinned on before turning back to the excited audience. "Our last two contenders are surprises too! Get a load of this!"

Link Firbrand

Aggressiveness: ?

Agility: ?

Tenacity: ?

Combination Damage: ?

Punishment Proficiency: ?

Side-Stepping: ?

Grapple Countering: ?

"Yo! Is that a kid?!"

In response to the shocked-expressed Seth's words as he took in the visage of the change in display, the watching crowd of people couldn't help but erupt into fits of murmuring and similar surprise. Sure enough, the ever-familiar face of the Hero of Time himself sat up on the wall's display, grinning back at the watcher in his usual side-leant style.

"It is indeed Seth," Marshall nodded in his briefly shut-eyed smile, laughing lowly as he did. "It's the first time in a long time we've ever had children sign up!"

"Is... is that even legal?!"

"There are no rules against it, my young friend!" Marshall shot back in his sociable smile, laughing on his younger companion could only stare on in shock. "Our young competitor hails from the Kokiri Forest, far to the south in our very own land of Hyrule!"

"Ooh, don't know if I like the woods Marsh!"

Marshall couldn't help but chortle, shaking his head as he re-opened his mouth to continue. "While his clan has no real history or achievements, young Link fights within the very personal side of the Loftwing-Style dojo! Taught only to a select few within the royal family themselves!"

In response, the audience whooped and cheered their approval.

"Yo that's hype!" Seth exclaimed out, eyes widening in a growing grin. "So he is a fighter!"

"It would appear so." Marshall chuckled on.

Just as he neared the end of his speech, however, the blonde boy's pictograph soon switched to another's; a raven-shaded spiky-haired one that, instead of grinning, opted to glare back at the audience.

Raynard Van Garrick

Aggressiveness: ?

Agility: ?

Tenacity: ?

Combination Damage: ?

Punishment Proficiency: ?

Side-Stepping: ?

Grapple Countering: ?

Marshall's smile braved on as he spoke to fill the silence. "Just like our new boy Link, Raynard is a young Hylian hailing from these very parts themselves! Your home-town people; Hyrule Castletown!"

The audience whooped and cheered for their patriotism.

"Young Raynard is said to originate from the Van Garrick clan! A forgotten family of people that were once quite gifted!" Marshall elucidated on. "As this is also Raynard's first year participating in the Prima World Tour we have yet to see any real statistics from them... but that's what this is for!"

"You damn right Marsh! I can't wait!"

Marshall laughed apologetically, nodding. "Yes... I've made you all wait long enough; I apologise!" He called out in his well-natured smile. "Welcome one, welcome all... to the Hylian Hyrax!"

~

"I was right! It does suit you!"

Just as Zelda had said, the frowning-faced Link stood now fully clad in the karate uniform that Impa had gifted him earlier. It was simply-enough designed; with long-sized white-shaded sleeves it was well-fitting, complete with a white belt to signify his beginning in martial arts.

"Yeah... I guess...," the frowning-faced youth began hesitantly, looking himself over as he did. "I feel like I'm missin' somethin' though."

"Careful," the watching Impa warned him with, grinning lightly as she stared down at him folded-armed. "I had our tailors make that specifically for you."

"So ungrateful..." The similarly-faced Malon chided him with in a comparatively disapproving turn of her head. Link couldn't help but gain a small grin as she spoke.

"All right... I got it."

Surprised, the group watched on as the grinning-faced youth reached to his two sides and ripped off the sleeves of his karate gi, little hesitation even as he did. Zelda widened her eyes as she watched, wincing in her harsh attendant's direction.

RRRRRIP

RRRRRRIP

"Oooh..." The watching princess winced, knowing full-well how her attendant would react in kind.

Even as he dropped down the ripped-off sleeves of his new karate gi cluelessly, the grin on his face told a blissfully unaware story that seemed to be rather consistent with him.

"There! That looks cooler, don'tcha think?" He asked, rolling his newly opened shoulders 'round himself as he did. Just as he said, the ripped sleeves left tears and parts of the uniform poking upward into spikes. It was only when the grinning-faced Link shot his head up to receive the worried looks of Malon and Zelda, however, that he realised his mistake.

His grin was very quickly removed in favour of a perturbed frown.

"U-Uh... what's...?"

The damning silence that plunged down upon the group was near deafening; even in spite of the cheering audience outside, though muffled, the three children felt the angry-eyed Impa's stare harder than anyone.

The Sheikah woman managed to surprise them all however.

"Yeah...," Impa agreed with the youth in what seemed to be a defeated sigh, her eyes growing limp as she frowned back down at him. "Yeah I suppose it does," she conceded, this time in a well-natured smile. "I've seen a lot worse-looking uniforms in rival dojos anyway." She finished, re-folding her arms as she popped her smile into a half-amused grin. The listening Link couldn't help but regain his own grin in response, having been infected by her surprising good cheer.

Zelda and Malon exchanged a silent but grateful shrug, smiling as they did.

Realising they were missing a few companions, Link's grin dropped in favour of a curiously-blinking frown, swinging it around in swift search. "Hey, where's-?"

"Right here bro!"

Somehow reading his very ruminations, the smirking-voiced Barkner's enthusiastic call, as always, made the wide-eyed Link grin back in response. Sure enough there they both were; the folded-armed Alwyn and the grinning-faced Barkner, seemingly having both returned from their errands.

"I can't believe we all qualified!" The beaming Link exclaimed out as the Goron and Zoran approached them, clenching his fists at his sides in excitement. "We're gonna rock this joint!"

"I can back that!" The similar-faced Goron agreed with, ever the sociable one, as he leant down to offer the youth an extended open palm. As the two slapped fingers together the watching Zelda and Impa rolled their eyes in a simultaneous display of exasperation with the two males.

"You should both be more worried," Alwyn offered in with a well-fitting smile of his own, nodding his Zoran head forward, his injured head-fin bobbing as he did. "These tournaments attract the best of the best; not just the little critters you've managed to take out in Lord Jabu Jabu's Belly."

Suddenly, as Alwyn reminded him of her, Link couldn't help but shudder from memory of his experience within.

He was grateful that Ruto had more pressing affairs of state with her father, King Zora De Bon XVI.

"I know, I know," Link rolled his own eyes in his overconfident grin. "'No matter how strong you think you are... there will always be someone stronger!'" The youth spoke in a comically exaggerated impersonation, his tenor deepened to sound as best alike to the listening Zoran as possible in its usual childish fashion. He folded his arms in an attempt to imitate the much-older man's mannerisms; a demonstration in which the watching Zelda and Malon couldn't help but giggle at in successful amusement.

"Give it time," the similar-expressed Barkner offered in with his own cheeky look. Link rose up a curious eyebrow in response. "When I send you out that ring... you stay out my boy."

"I guess we gon' have-ta find out!" The grinning-faced Link shot back, a challenging look burning in his eye; the listening Goron burst into laughter, the former Kokiri joining him inevitably.

"Impa..."

The smiling Sheikah swung her silver-shaded head down to face her princess curiously, rising up an eyebrow as she did.

"Who are all those people...?" The blonde girl questioned quizzically, briefly eyeing each person in the room. Sure enough they were all either leaning against the wall or hanging by themselves. Some, however, were at least sociable enough to stand and converse together.

"They're all the finalists," the Sheikah smiled on before rising her eyes to face the gaggle of people all spread out ahead. "The one leaning against the wall at the end there is Lyna."

"I hear she's one hell of a customer!" Barkner spoke in with, grinning on exuberantly as he did. "She's been in here before ain't she?"

"You damn right she has," Alwyn frowned in, ever the professional one. "I've seen her win rounds in a white-wash; men double their size can't even catch her."

"That's awesome," the beaming-faced Link commented on, his blood boiling once more at the thought of a challenge. "Maybe I'll be able to catch her!"

Malon grinned back at him, flicking his nose playfully. "Doubtful."

"That's Grayson, Kaiser and Catriona all over there in the centre," Impa continued, nodding her head toward the three adults. Sure enough there was a brown-haired man, a navy-blue-haired one and an auburn-shaded young woman all conversing together. "Kaiser and Catriona I don't know personally but Grayson's a good soldier." The Sheikah carried on with her commentary, smiling.

Even as she spoke, the standing Grayson half-turned his brown-haired head as if he sensed them watching, and he nodded his head upwards as if in respect and greeting. Impa, of course, returned the gesture.

"He's taken part in a few of these too." She finished with wisely.

"Doesn't he use the same fighting style as Link though?" Malon questioned curiously, rising up a fire-red eyebrow as she spoke. Link, surprised, swung his blonde-haired head between his mentor and his companion, unable to bring words which to voice it.

"That's correct," Impa chuckled knowingly, nodding as she did in her shut-eyed smile. "He also uses the Loftwing-Style karate."

"You tellin' me you've given him those secret techniques you taught me?" Link countered with curiously, grinning on as he did. Impa regained her own as she tilted her head at him knowingly.

"Not quite...," she chortled. "He wasn't able to handle the higher tier stuff... things like your Hadoken and the Shoryuken."

"Guess I still got my edge!" The young Hylian boasted in his own shut-eyed beam, rising up his hands to rest behind his head; an old habit.

"I think not!" Barkner grinned on back at him, leaning down toward him as if to counter his very statement. "Don't forget; some of us have seen you fight before!"

"Like that'll matter!" Link batted back expertly, his overconfidence shining through the flavour he laced through his tenor. "I'm clearly the best here!"

"You've always been the best at thinking you're the best." Zelda shot in with, rolling her eyes for what felt like the umpteenth time. Even as she criticised him however, she couldn't hide the amused look that infected her countenance; something the watching Link took as a silent victory.

"Um... Impa..."

The Sheikah woman rose another eyebrow as she turned her head down to the source of the soprano; Malon pointed her finger toward a far-off corner in the room.

"Is that him...?"

The last of the Sheikah traced the little farm girl's gaze and, sure enough, there he stood in all of his unsociable glory. Standing in a leaning position against the wall, not unlike that of Lyna herself, the firmly-frowning form of Raynard Van Garrick seemed to be in a peaceful-enough state; his eyes shut as he crossed his legs and folded his arms.

Impa frowned as she nodded. "Yes... that's Raynard."

"Bit of a weird kid huh?" Barkner questioned curiously, eyebrow of his own raised up as he exchanged a look with the similarly-frowning Alwyn.

"Victim of the civil war, maybe?" The former military Zoran asked the knowledgeable Sheikah. She shook her head.

"Not quite," she responded. "There's a decree in force through king Daphnes himself that forbids contact with the Van Garrick clan unless absolutely required."

"Is that so...?" Alwyn asked, a curious narrow of his eyes as he reset them on the leaning boy far off.

"It's gonna be me and him."

Genuinely surprised by the boy's predictive words, every member of the group all swung their heads upon him, only to find him staring over at the leaning form of Raynard in a low-held grin. It was a look that carried him all across Termina's four corners, a look beyond mere overconfidence.

It was sheer belief.

"You can't be sure of that!" Barkner snorted out half-stunned, almost as if he were psychic itself. "Could be any one of us!"

"Yeah... I guess," the young Hylian at last conceded to, ever with a sociable grin upon his face, re-raising up his small hands to rest behind his pony-tailed head. "I guess we'll have-ta find out!"

"All competitors! Can I get your attention please?"

The group all swung their heads, surprised, in the direction of the voice; standing at the centre-end of the room appeared to be the staff of the tournament itself, all seemingly ready to continue with the match-up placements.

"All right, you three better get going," Impa suggested in her graciously-gained smile, turning it 'round on the grinning Link, frowning Alwyn and smiling-faced Barkner. "I imagine you won't want to get disqualified for no-showing."

–

2

"Welcome one and all, and thank you all again for taking part in the Prima World Tour's Hylian Hyrax," the man spoke before them in a sociable smile, gripping what appeared to be small gemstones, all dimly lit-up in his hands. "Congratulations on making it to the finals! In my hands are fairly small Gossip Stones."

The frowning-faced Link rose a curious blonde-haired eyebrow up as he stood up on his tiptoes, almost as if to get a better look at them.

Sure enough they looked the same kind of material to the wondrous creation littered around their country.

"When I hand these out to each and every one of you they will all flash a specific number, all randomly generated, I assure," the staff member chuckled on as he stepped forward to hand each standing competitor a Gossip Stone. "With all that said, good luck in your pairings and congratulations once again!"

Link could barely keep still when the referee handed him one of the miniature little Gossip Stones; even as he rolled it around his palm it looked just as beautiful as the cut ones they seemingly mass-produced in Hyrule Castle itself.

I wonder if they're all over the world, he wondered to himself.

It was only when he finished his rumination, however, that his Gossip Stone lit up and gave an audible cue as it did. The referee, poking his head in its direction, rose his eyebrows before smiling down at the boy. Resting down in the Gossip Stone's display appeared to be a symbol of ancient Hylian; unfortunately for him, however, he couldn't quite decipher it correctly.

七

"Ah! Seven!" The smiling-faced referee nodded before reaching down gently to pluck the Gossip Stone back from the blinking youth's grip. When he turned to start writing across one of the boards lying at the end of the room, presumably to note down the youth's position, the rest of the fighters stepped forward to lay down their own Gossip Stones on the table next to the staff member. "Thank you all!"

"You got seven?" The grinning Barkner questioned, re-folding his bulky and rocky arms as he turned his head down to raise an eyebrow at his younger companion. Link shot the Goron a similar-expressed grin of his own, nodding. "Looks as if you're up against Grayson!"

Surprised this time, Link's eternal beam quickly faded in favour of a surprised frown as he swung his straw-haired head 'round to the board. His cerulean-shaded eyes caught the double-take that the frowning-faced Grayson gave him, however, before eventually the older adult smiled and nodded his way.

A gesture of respect between opponents.

Link's sociable grin returned to his expression and he shut his eyes before bowing gracefully forward, his left fist softly placed within his opened right palm horizontally.

An ancient posture taught to him by his mentor Impa.

"We have Barkner versus Lyna in the first round!" The referee smiled, pointing a small cane up toward the board before them all. The wide-eyed Goron listened in, similarly surprised, before turning to eye the glaring-faced young woman herself.

She offered little in the way of sportsmanship.

"Don't underestimate her." The narrow-eyed Alwyn whispered in next to the grinning Goron. Barkner nodded in gratefulness.

"In round two we have Raynard versus Catriona!"

Link swivelled his head 'round only to find the standing Raynard folded-armed and shut-eyed, almost as if he weren't listening to begin with. The poor frowning-faced Catriona attempted to exchange a friendship-filled handshake but he chose not to raise his spiky-haired head.

But the watching Link knew better; he couldn't help but crack an amused grin.

If there was a wall nearby he'd definitely be sittin' up against it, he thought.

"Round three! Alwyn versus Kaiser!"

The similarly folded-armed Zoran turned his head in the flamboyantly-dressed fighter to his right; the Stralanavian merely flicked his aqua-blue fringe up in response, a shut-eyed smile on his face and a light chuckle as he did.

A quiet-voiced taunt.

"And round four will be played with Grayson versus Link!"

The smiling-faced Grayson nodded a second time in his younger opponent's direction. Link nodded back in response with his own excitable grin, his well-kept ponytail bouncing lightly as he did.

"This will all be single elimination of course, rules will all be the same as your preliminaries if you all remember," the referee smiled sociably as he 'rounded to face the eight fighters of varying backgrounds. "The only difference is the time limit; you all have an unlimited time in which to complete your matches," he informed, drawing multiple murmurs and nods of understanding from the competitors. "All that said, please, enjoy yourselves and may your match-up be ever in your favour!"

~

Having politely asked the princess' attendant to leave the competitors' rest by the staff Impa, of course, agreed; taking Malon and Zelda with her, the three turned to joining the audience stands surrounding the ring.

"This place is amazing," Malon gaped in surprise as she followed her two royal guides through the crowd of people. "And all this is inside the castle itself?"

"Always has been," Zelda offered over her shoulder in her usual well-maintained smile. "We're inside the main castle itself; you know that little road outside that the Lon Lon Milk delivery comes through? The drawbridge and all?"

"Yeah?" Malon quipped back curiously.

"We're inside that castle," the princess teased in a half-smirk, eliciting an amused grin from the listening farm girl. "Prima asked my great grandfather once if they could host one of their national championships here and he said yes... apparently." She trailed off, grinning on as the three eventually approached three available seats.

"Obviously," Malon batted back in her own amused grin. "I imagine it's good for tourists and things like that."

"Generally if we're not embroiled in war yes," Impa answered the girl's comments in her usual careful-faced frown as they all took their seats. "A lot of our summer profits in Rupees come from this, actually. It's a fairly mutually beneficial arrangement."

"You'd think I'd have heard of these more," the smiling Malon began again however as she turned her head 'round back to face the empty ring below. "I mean I've seen lots of people hanging around Hyrule Castletown dressed like these people but..."

"It's fairly easy to miss," Impa answered again, re-folding her arms as she got comfortable. "We tend to be quite modest with this particular regional; we find the world championship is generally held in another country."

"Is that a bit of jealousy I detect in your tone Impa?" Malon grinned on up at the Sheikah; she turned to raise an eyebrow before upturning a light smirk of her own.

"I've always loved how they've utilised our Gossip Stones," Zelda smiled next to the pair, arms ever in her centre, joined and all. "I mean imagine being able to broadcast this event to multiple allied countries and continents at once?"

Malon, surprised, widened her sky-blue eyes in response before turning back to the huge Gossip Stones built into the castle itself. Sure enough, she was right; there were input and output variants of the stones, all appropriately sized.

"Y-Yeah... wow... I had no idea they did that..."

"Marvel of the Goddess Stone," Impa smiled into the conversation this time, nodding down at it as she did. "It's a material said to have existed far beyond our own time and even into ancient history, laminite; days of the Sorcerer of the Divine Divide and the Sainted Three themselves."

"Wow...," the mesmerised Malon murmured out, wide-eyed with surprise. "I wonder what's in 'em?"

"Welcome one, welcome all to the top eight of the Hylian Hyrax!"

Mr. Marshall's voice, ever powerfully-echoed in the small Gossip Stone he spoke into, carried far through the stands that the audience sat in; they called back cheerfully and enthusiastically.

"We're coming to you live here at beautiful Hyrule Castle at high-noon on a lovely summer's day!" Marshall smiled on eagerly. "And if you're just joining us then don't leave your seat! We're about to have our round one scuffle!"

"It's gonna be a big one Marsh!" The grinning-faced Seth called in with. "We've got the man with the plan himself! The rock of the Gorons! Barkner Elbrus!"

As the named Goron stepped forward from the competitor's entrance and exit, he gave out a generous wave as he cast his sociable grin toward the cheering audience surrounding him.

"And in the blue corner we have a name you people love! A woman with a name to strike fear in the hearts of contenders all over! Everyone please give a warm welcome to Lyna Greene!" The smiling Marshall called out through his own Gossip Stone, turning his eyes toward the ring. Sure enough, the firmly-frowning form of Lyna herself, her slim arms resting at her side as she marched forward. Unlike the sociable Barkner she received an even higher level of praise; the cheers from the audience rocking the very ring itself.

"Seems she has quite the following," the half-smiling Impa mused aloud, curious eyebrow risen up as she watched from her seat. The two girls at her sides swung their heads in her direction. "I imagine in a full five tour she's plenty experienced."

"She's been through five tours?!" The wide-eyed Malon called out, shocked as she swivelled her fire-haired head back down to the ring. "Barkner doesn't stand a chance then!"

"I wouldn't be so quick to count him out," the generous-faced Zelda offered from her own seat before turning back to cast her own sapphire-blue gaze below. "Barkner's one of the Gorons' better fighters, after all."

"Well said!"

The group of girls turned their heads, surprised, only to find the deep-voiced bass belonging to the folded-armed form of Darunia himself, joined only by his Zoran king companion king Zora De Bon.

"Big Brother Darunia. King Zora; it's lovely to see you both," Impa responded, her slow smile soon returning to her complexion, unfolding her own arms in a display of respect. "All your business is concluded I imagine?"

"You bet!" The huge muscled Goron grinned back at the Sheikah before nodding at the smiling-faced king Zora to follow as he stepped forward to join their allies and companions. "That's big brother Daphnes ready to give his speech as usual." He claimed in a light grunt as he took one of the empty seats next to the frowning-faced Malon, joined by the similarly smiling Zoran king.

"Oh no..." Zelda groaned, lowering her blonde-haired head to carry it in her hands; a look of anguish and embarrassment.

"What's... wrong?" Malon questioned, eyebrow rising up in genuine puzzlement. Impa shook her silver-shaded head in a knowing chortle.

"King Hyrule tends to always get a little sentimental during the nationals' opening speech," the Sheikah attendant claimed. "It's a tradition they've carried for years, ever since his grandfather hosted the very first Hylian Hyrax."

Darunia pulled his rocky-haired head back and laughed uproariously. "Big Brother can be a little soft for family! I like to think it's a compliment!"

"You take him then..." Zelda muttered in the Goron chief's direction, eyes limpid with obvious annoyance, drawing a listening chuckle out of the group.

"And now!" The smiling-faced Marshall called out, eliciting the easily-gained attention of the listening crowd. "A word from our gracious host, the royal family's monarchy himself! King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule!"

Just as he spoke, a pair of well-armoured Hylian guardsmen stepped out alongside the lavishly-dressed king himself from inside of the competitor's box.

"My subjects... and those of you visiting from surrounding territories... I bid you all a warm welcome... to Hyrule!" The man called out, his deep bass amplified by the tiny Gossip Stone cut specifically for him, attached directly to his long-sized crimson-red coat.

The respectful audience cried out in cheers again, popularity for the man seemingly soaring.

"We have enjoyed peace and prosperity for a good number of years now...," the king began again, casting his frowning-faced gaze slowly across the stands surrounding him. "And all that is thanks to you! The selfless Gorons! The altruistic Zorans! And the magnanimous Aurelians!"

Again, the crowd roared their approval, appreciative and all.

"I wouldn't be at all exaggerating when I say that we Hylians owe you all a lot...," the man claimed lowly this time, his voice near whispering as the crowd fell silent in respect and genuine curiosity. "And, so, it is with great humility and gratitude that I am proud to announce the top eight qualifiers for the tenth anniversary of Prima's Hylian Hyrax!"

In a cacophonous cheer to finish the celebration, fireworks of magical Quintessence and Aegir blew apart high in the sky above the roaring crowd, going rather well with the opening to the tournament.

"What can I say folks; it's a great country, can't go wrong with Hyrule." The smiling Marshall offered in with a light shake of his head.

"You can't ever go wrong with it Marsh!" The grinning-faced Seth agreed vehemently with his companion and co-commentator.

"Oh...," the frowning Zelda blinked out, half-surprised. "That... wasn't too bad."

"Yeah, what were you even worried about?" Malon grinned over, leaning past the tall Sheikah's form in between the two girls. "That was a nice message."

"All right! Red side, ready!"

As Marshall's loud baritone echoed down toward the grinning-expressed Barkner, he nodded back in response, eyes fixated on his opponent.

"Blue side, ready!"

The standing Lyna glared back at the Goron, unfixing her arms to rest limp at her side before she clenched them. She leant her curly-haired head to the side as she nodded, eyes narrowing deep into the chestnut-brown eyes of her Goron opponent.

One of the tournament's staff members stepped toward the huge gong resting outside of the ring's bounds, a large hammer-like tool in his hands to strike it with.

DRRRROOOOOOOONG...

"Begin!"

–

3

In a flash she was away; almost as soon as the referee made the call that the match had started, Lyna had turned to move so quickly she left mere after-images in her wake.

"Incredible!" The narrow-eyed Marshall called out from his table outside the ring. "Now you all see where Lyna gets her Agility ranking from!"

"She quick as hell Marsh!" The grinning Seth agreed with exuberantly.

The similarly narrow-eyed Barkner merely watched carefully as he stepped forward, presumably to gain space and to stay as far away from the edge of the ring as possible. As he marched on through, the relatively silent crowd watched on in baited breath for their champions to eventually clash; a contest that was inevitable. Sure enough, just as the Goron shut his eyes and placed his limbs at his sides, Lyna at last re-appeared.

FWIP-CRUNK

"Kuh...!"

As she seemingly materialised out from no-where and swung her left fist in a chopping assault, the shut-eyed Barkner shot his eyes wide-open as he abruptly rose his right rocky fist to meet the attack with. As they clashed, with no notable effects, she grunted in annoyance and back-dashed presumably to stay in safety.

"Oh no ya don't!" Barkner grinned, darting his head her way as he extended forth his chunky arm forward. She gasped, wide-eyed as he gripped at her clothes and successfully pulled her through the air. The watching audience let out gasps and whoops as the teal-haired woman was yanked through the air over the Goron's very shoulder itself before eventually crashing noisily and agonisingly into the ring's floor itself.

CRRRRASHHH...

A cloud of dust and smoke joined the inevitable rubble that rolled down out of it, leaving the watching audience gasping and wide-eyed.

"Good Farore; is she still alive?!" The shock-faced Seth called out into the tense arena, leaving only mere murmuring and silence from the crowd. The smoke couldn't clear before a leg shot out from under however, gripping the wide-eyed Barkner's own legs and twisting them with their own.

"Ha...!"

The shock-expressed Goron could only dart his head down to get a quick look and, sure enough, it was the legs of his quick and nimble enemy herself; with enough force to down a Stralanavian bison, she managed to twist the Goron's legs firmly enough to send him gasping down to the ground, successfully swept.

DRRRROOOOM

His rock-like body crashed cacophonously, the reverberation rolling across the field and into the audience stands behind him.

"Good goddess!" Marshall spluttered out, near unable to believe the proceedings. "Even his body must weigh a ton!"

"Imagine gettin' body-slammed by that Marsh," Seth chuckled on, a mischievous grin on his countenance. "There'd be nothin' left of you."

Not one to disagree with the notion, Marshall winced and nodded in silence.

FWIP

In a narrow-eyed glare, Lyna used her legs to push off of the grunting Barkner's fallen form, effectively back-rolling out of the smoke cloud to safety. When she re-appeared to lay on the pressure in her inevitable counter-attack, the audience got a good look at the fresh injuries resting across her body. Although Barkner's earlier assault was one simple strike it was effective; numerous cuts and bruises had already managed to form on the young woman's body.

When she dashed forward and yelled out as she dropped down her leg vertically in an axe kick technique Barkner widened his eyes and, realising his soft centre and front was open as he was lying on his back, he shot up his rocky arms in a horizontal defence technique.

"Baaaad move my man!" Seth's grinning-voiced words echoed out through the Gossip Stones around them.

Just as he claimed, Lyna's initial attack was a feint. She redirected the location of her aggression by aiming this time for his one open area on his body; his lower-half.

CRRRRACK

Barkner's breath caught in the middle of his throat and, as she mercilessly slammed her leg across his groin, even the watching audience let out pained simultaneous groans.

"Ouch town, population you bro!" Seth called in again, directing a finger toward the poor wide-eyed Goron and eliciting a laugh from the female side of the audience.

"Poor Barkner...," the watching Zelda winced. "That has to be painful, surely?"

"You have no idea..." The frowning-faced Darunia shook his rocky-haired head, arms folded in a saddened cringe of his own.

"He's better than this," the similar-faced Impa claimed, her royal-red eyes narrowing in her usual scrutinisation. "Have faith in him."

Almost as if the very fates themselves were listening to the wise woman's words, as Lyna shot down another barrage of kicks the wide-eyed Barkner raised up both own legs to meet them. Although she watched them connect, she widened her own teal-shaded eyes when they bounced off harmlessly and dealt damage to herself.

CRACK

"Nngh...!"

The young woman, her offence and momentum essentially over, found herself stumbling back from the Goron's defensive technique.

"Amazing!" The watching Marshall called out, wide-eyed and similarly shocked. "The power of a Goron ladies and gentlemen! Although our challenger found her opponent's weak spot he reinforced it with the rock-like hardening of a boulder itself! No other race could do such a feat!"

Seth laughed alongside his older comrade, snapping his fingers appreciatively as the audience cheered noisily. "I am lovin' this guy Marsh!"

When the grunting Lyna eventually righted her posture however, the narrow-eyed Barkner smashed his fists against the already broken tiles of the arena below him to propel him back into a standing position. She watched him carefully and very slowly began to circle him; Barkner watched her for no less than a single second before widening his eyes a second time and bringing up his huge fist filled with Aegir.

"Ah-!"

Lyna widened her eyes in abject realisation but it was far too late; as Barkner roared with effort and broke the ring apart with a mere single punch, Lyna very quickly found any avenue to retreat to extremely difficult.

Let alone any ground to stand on.

"HYA!"

DROOOOOOM-CRASH

Unable to respond, Lyna grunted as she found herself being ricocheted into the air from the sheer shock-wave of the power punch Barkner delivered to the ground she stood on, leaving her further open to counter-attack. He dashed forward and widened his eyes as he lowered his stance, right fist held backward to finish with.

"Here it comes, ladies and gentlemen!" The gasping Marshall called out, leaning forward in his table.

"The killin' blow!" Seth laughed out next to him, similarly enthused.

"YAAAGH!"

CRRRRRASH

"Agh...!"

Lyna's pained whisper was an understatement to the otherworldly agony in which Barkner's rising earth-shaded fist brought to her; an assault that saw him sending her directly out of the ring itself and tumbling face-first to the grassy ground below her. The watching audience fell silent, almost as if they were waiting for the judges and commentators to provide them with a result, before eventually the similarly silent Marshall and Seth spoke.

"And this game's winner is... Barkner!"

~

"Marvellous, stupendous, awe-inspiring!" Marshall's voice called out after his partner's, a wide smile gracing his older complexion. "A David and Goliath match-up with awesome sights to see!"

"Yo for a first match in today's top eight that was off the hook!" The grinning-faced Seth exclaimed through his Gossip Stone, laughing on as he usually did. "I ain't missin' any one of these they're half that hype!"

"You aren't wrong my young friend! But one must always triumph over the other!" The smiling-faced Marshall nodded as he tilted his head toward the youth before eventually re-facing the front. "Our man with the plan, Barkner the Goron, advances to the quarter-finals!"

Lyna groaned, the sound of the nearby surrounding audience near deafening her with cheers all around as she peeled herself off the grassy ground below. It was only when she saw the smiling-faced Barkner standing overhead, a rocky hand hovering below and its palm outstretched, that she realised he was attempting to help her up. She sighed through her nose and debated whether or not to slap it away before eventually gracefully taking the hand, standing to her feet and dusting herself off as she did.

"You were really quick," the Goron chuckled well-naturedly, briefly shutting his eyes in his friendly smile. "If it wasn't for that last attack I don't think I'd have won!"

"Hmph...," the frowning-faced young woman murmured out her throat, her frown twitching once before she 'rounded her expression on the younger fighter in front of her. "Maybe," she held up in the air figuratively, a small grin of her own growing on her injured face. "Those defences got me salty."

Barkner threw his head back and laughed uproariously, a manner similar to his leader.

"Techniques taught to us by big bro himself!" He laughed half-nervously, rubbing the back of his head as he did before turning briefly to issue the cheering Darunia an appreciative wink and nod. "If it wasn't for those I'd have definitely have lost!"

"Hm..."

As the frowning-faced Lyna reached her left hand forward, surprising not just the wide-eyed Barkner but the quiet-voiced audience, she began to feel around his body almost as if to see for herself how effective his defensive techniques were.

Sure enough, they were rock-hard; like the boulders of Hyrule's Death Mountain themselves.

"You ain't bad."

Her low-voiced compliment managed to bring him out his wide-eyed daydreaming; he blinked once before re-facing her. She ran her left index finger up to flick his nose flirtatiously. Even the watching Goron himself could only blink in silent-voiced thought.

Was it a compliment, he wondered.

"I guess so..."

"See ya 'round."

Before the dumbstruck Goron could even find time with which to respond, the grinning-faced young woman turned to walk off, presumably for the competitor's box.

"W-Wait!" He called out, reaching up for her disappearing form, almost as if to congratulate her. "Weird chick...," he began again, an unsure frown adorning his rocky face. "Lyna... you all right." He finished, his frown soon upturning into an appreciative smile.

As the crowd called out cacophonously for their challengers, the smiling Marshall and grinning Seth found themselves stepping forward to come join him, Gossip Stones in hand with which to speak to him. Barkner blinked over in their direction, half-surprised.

"What a victory Mr. Elbrus! Truly a marvel!"

"Barkner." The grinning Goron chuckled, eyebrow raised up, offering the man usage of his first name as he rose up his right hand to be shook in greeting, first with the smiling Marshall and then the youthful Seth.

"How do you like that folks; a man born on planet earth!" The tournament official boomed through his Gossip Stone in the sociable smile he was known for. "And so strong too!"

CRRRRICK

Seth cringed as he pulled his hand from Barkner's, shaking it wildly in response as if to restore feeling to it.

"Man you ain't kiddin'." He lamented, drawing a listening chuckle from the watching audience.

"What's next for you Barkner? Now that you've beaten the odds themselves and advanced to the quarter-finals!" Marshall smiled on, plucking his Gossip Stone to hover under the Goron's mouth.

"Not get taken out I guess...," the young man chuckled in his deep bass, reverberated strongly by the small laminite stone he spoke into as he folded his bulky arms. "I wanna be able to advance far enough... to challenge a couple close friends of mine." He added, casting his newly-gained grin toward the competitor's box.

Far-off inside it were the watching and grinning Link as well as the smiling-faced Alwyn, leaning against the wall next to the young Hylian, his own Zoran arms folded.

"Fascinating!" Marshall smiled one last time. "All of you, one more hand for our winner today! And for our loyal five-time fighter Lyna!"

In a powerfully-echoed cheer the audience did just that; a poignant response that saw even the most cantankerous spectator soften up into a smile.


	3. Power of the Van Garricks; a Lost Clan

Chapter 3: Power of the Van Garricks; a Lost Clan  
Scuffle at the Hylian Hyrax Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Main Menu Theme (B)" - Super Street Fighter IV OST. Scene 1 (First Half).  
"Nobody Catch Me"; Catriona's Theme - Tekken II Arcade Edition OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).  
"Arashi-no-Saxaphone 2 (Arranged)"; Raynard's Theme (A) - The King of Fighters '96 OST. Scene 2 (First Half).  
"Restoration 3" - Beyblade (2001) Season 1 OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).

\--

In a powerfully-composed explosion of agility and defence, Barkner the Goron and Lyna the Hylian make an amazing round one in the Hylian Hyrax's top eight; a national championship of martial arts that helps qualify toward Prima's own 'World Tour'. Essentially its world championship of martial arts itself.

Although Barkner is fairly quickly overtaken by his older opponent's superior agility and speed, he manages to close the gap between the two by utilising his rock-like defence – a trademark of the Gorons themselves – before at last delivering the finishing blow. It is only when he does however that he receives not only a congratulations from the seemingly unsociable young woman, but a compliment.

Barkner can only speculate as to the mysterious woman's intentions.

Now the Hylian Hyrax moves to its second round; Raynard Van Garrick versus Catriona Burcania.

Raynard, a previous companion of the time-travelling Link and Hyrule's princess Zelda themselves, has also signed up to the competition in hopes of championing it; something that the youthful Link hopes to challenge. Having come from Hyrule's ruined future and, unfortunately killed him in his own time, it does Link great comfort to his guilt to see him alive and well in this timeline.

Now the Hero of Time and his companions hope only to learn as they watch the next battle unfold...

\--

Scene 1

"Welcome back fighters to the Hylian Hyrax right here in beautiful Hyrule Castletown, led as always by the Prima World Tour!"

The sound of Mr. Marshall's pleasing baritone echoed out through the Gossip Stone he used to amplify his voice; a commentator for the national championship tournament.

"And if you're just joining us we've already started so hold onto your hats! My name is Mr. Marshall and with me always is my partner in crime..."

"Hell yeah Marsh!"

Responding to the man's professional baritone was a youthful and lighter range of baritone; one the young man sitting next to him by affectionately bumping clenched fists with.

"It's me; ya boi, Tasty Seth and we're all here to find out who's the number one martial artist in your beautiful country of Hyrule!"

As the young co-commentator called out his exuberant exclamation, so too did the listening audience in cheer and roar in approval and excitement.

"In our last go-around we had one of the greatest turn-arounds ever possible within our records of the world tour," Marshall explained briefly, ever in his sociable smile. "Five-time contender Lyna Greene herself matched up with the relatively newcomer Barkner Elbrus!"

The grinning-faced Seth whistled out long and loudly, exaggerating as always. "One hell of a show Marsh!"

"I must admit... all my Rupees were on the experienced Lyna to win... but your man Barkner managed to pull a win out of his hat with his reliance on his great defensive techniques!"

The listening crowd all whooped for their previously-won champion, particularly the watching Gorons.

"But what next we hear you all ask us?" The newly frowning-faced Seth began boldly, leaning back in his chair as he spoke. "Well, we got just the answer for you guys! Mmmmarsh!" He finished in a grinning-faced exclamation, rotating his index finger 'round the air in his final inflection to end up pointing directly at the man on his right.

"That's right ladies and gentlemen; we have what you've all been looking for! A round two square-off with the only surviving member of the Van Garrick clan himself!" The lightly-smirking Marshall nodded in response to his younger friend's words, utilising his own free hand to point directly at the roaring audience.

"We got Raynard VS. Catriona! Hyrule VS. Palashia! It's gonna be a fight for the storybooks boys and girls!" Seth called out in excitable laughter, drawing thunderous approval from the patriotic Hylians in the audience.

"Let's take one last look at their statistics before they square-off folks!"

As Marshall's baritone echoed out into the air, the Goddess Stones that they utilised to display pictographs with soon projected a figure of the half-smiling Catriona.

Catriona Burcania

Aggressiveness: S

Tenacity: A

Agility: A

"I've said it before Marsh; this chick is awesome!" Seth called out in a grand gesture indeed; as he waved his free arm horizontally across the air, the audience cried out alongside him in agreement. "She just does not take no for an answer!"

"Right you are Seth; a young woman with a hard head whose martial arts techniques reflect that very fact!" The smiling-faced announcer nodded on with the exuberant youth. "In her entire career, this young woman's managed to gain quite the following for the win-loss record she has!"

"Yo, I couldn't care how many losses she has Marsh!" Seth shook his head vehemently as well as his free arm, frowning as he did. "Do you remember the last world championship she was in?!"

"That man was lucky to leave that ring alive..." Marshall lamented ruefully, a pained frown adorned on his normally softened countenance as he shook it in response.

"Exactly my man!" The excited Seth called out, slamming his fist against the table in further display to his rambunctious passion. "Ain't no man gonna match that! Not without drawin' blood!"

The audience roared in favour for the young woman as she stepped out into the ring, smiling sociably as she waved off at them all.

It would certainly appear even with the crowd she was a fan favourite.

CLICK

"It's funny you say that Seth...," the lightly-smirking Marshall began again in reply with a light click of his fingers, surprising both the youth at his left and the listening taut audience. "For Catriona's opponent was born within a clan said to be drenched in blood!"

In complete contrast to the lavishly boiling reception that Catriona received, the folded-armed Raynard received a bleak response indeed; mere murmurings and silence were the calls that the watching Hylians, Gorons, Zorans, Deku and even Aurelians opted to go with, leaving a stark contradiction to their earlier high energy.

It was obvious and in plain sight, just as Impa had informed the group earlier; even having been confronted with the young Van Garrick survivor, the Hylian people had little interest in even acknowledging his presence. As always, however, the spiky-haired youth opted not to let it bother him or, if it did, he chose not to let it show and marched into the white-tiled ring seemingly unfazed.

Just as with Catriona's pictograph, an image of Raynard's glaring and scowling face replaced his opponent's, leaving the ever-reliable tray of statistics below.

Raynard Van Garrick

Aggressiveness: ?

Agility: ?

Tenacity: ?

Combination Damage: ?

Punishment Proficiency: ?

Side-Stepping: ?

Grapple Countering: ?

"Said to be the sole survivor of his forgotten clan, Raynard is part of the 'Van Garricks'!" Marshall began, ever in his professional and reliable smile. "Although his family have all said have gone missing during the civil war, Raynard comes from a faction that was once said to be the greatest in all forms of combat!"

"Woah...!" Seth gasped out, eyes widened in legitimate surprise as opposed to their normal tomfoolery and acting for the audience. "No foolin'...?!"

"Hand to the Sainted," Marshall smiled, tilting his head as he re-rose it to face the younger commentator, rising up his open-palmed hand to go with his genuine gesture. "And this was in all forms of combat! Magical, hand-to-hand and even within the range of espionage!" He exclaimed out excitedly, curling his open-palmed fingers into another eagerly-expressed fist. "Oh yes, there's very little range that the Van Garricks could yield to!"

"This match... is gonna be off the hook!" The wide-eyed Seth suddenly exclaimed, his own infectious enthusiasm at last rubbing off on the thus-far silent crowd; they roared in response for their commentators and for the show they were about to receive.

"Red side, ready!"

The far-off Raynard unfolded his arms and set his small legs apart, opening up his light-brown eyes to glare back at his watching opponent.

"Blue side, ready!"

The similarly-faced Catriona furrowed her brow forward and rose up her hands, open-palmed, to rest vertically at her sides; seemingly the style of her martial arts.

"Begin!"

\--

Catriona wasted no time in attempting her usual rush-down style of fighting; she swung her blue-glowing right hand in a wide and horizontal sweep. In response, numerous blades of Aegir itself formed in mid-air around her before taking off fairly quickly after her younger opponent, as if knives of all things. Raynard shot wide-open his light-brown shaded eyes and, as he did, a kind of near-invisible aura of Quintessence formed around his body.

TINK-CLATTER...

The blades of Aegir harmlessly bounced off the defensive shield that Raynard brought up, leaving the narrow-eyed Catriona to take off forward herself. Not one to play defensively, the Palashian-bound young woman wave-dashed ahead, her head and upper-form kept low as she began to approach. The firmly-frowning form of Raynard glared back at her, opting not to move from his precarious position next to the edge of the ring. As she at last came close she reached forward with both hands and grappled at the wide-eyed boy's own left.

DRRRRAG-SKRRR-CRASH

"Gurgh...!"

Taken completely off-guard, Raynard widened his chestnut-brown eyes as he was dragged literally and agonisingly across the ground beneath him. It was a fairly simple grapple but an effective one; as the newly-grinning Catriona 'rounded her eyes down to sink a fist at the fallen form of her opponent, Raynard grunted as he pushed his body to go rolling evasively in his right direction. He formed an Aegir knife within his right palm and shot it down into the ring's tiles to prevent moving any further.

CLINK-CRSHHH

As it sunk in successfully and Catriona recovered from her earlier tile-punching assault, the narrow-eyed Raynard shot his legs forward, one after the other to overwhelm her footing.

"Ah..!"

In her wide-eyed gasp, her grin very quickly dropped in favour of a worried frown as she dropped to the ground alongside him, her right arm falling into his grip as his legs fairly successfully wrapped themselves 'round her taller form.

"Incredible!" The wide-eyed Marshall called out, similarly shocked to the aghast-faced audience. "Van Garrick answers Burcania's grapple with another grapple! They may as well both be cobras!"

"Tasty second round opening!"

As Seth's grinning-faced exclamation echoed out the Gossip Stones behind him, the wincing-faced Catriona very quickly regained her grin as she cricked and cracked her right hand back into working order. His own hands still occupied by grappling her right arm, he could do nothing to stop her next action; she twisted her hand and it glowed a light-blue as it approached the youth's brown-tunic cloth and, when it at last made contact, effects were fairly immediate.

"Grngh..."

The raven-haired youth's grip fell short almost as fast as it had landed in response to the woman's touch; she grinned on successfully as she slammed her back-fist into his face, sending him rolling back in recovery.

"Woah! She may not know how to tech grapples guys but this chick knows how to steal Aegir!" Seth laughed out, wide-eyed and genuinely surprised. "That's one hell of a substitute!"

She back-dashed as she got back to her feet before grinning on as she leapt forward, her right hand still charged full with her burning-blue Quintessence.

CRASH-SKRRRR

The pair grunted similarly as they crashed to the ground, Catriona's palm directed on the boy's forehead; he shot up his hands to grip at hers in a futile attempt to rid himself of her grip, scowling terribly as he did. As the blue-fire evident on her fingers intensified, an indication of rising power, Raynard grunted as he shut one eye, his vision becoming blurry.

"It looks as though the clock will strike midnight on this Cinderella story!" Marshall began again, his baritone echoing out deeply behind him as he cast his frown forward. "With Catriona's patented 'Aegir-steal', she's going all out in an effort to end this as soon as it starts!"

Raynard's light-brown eyes shot wide-open and he yelled in effort as he brought up his left knee sharply up to collide savagely with the young woman's lower-chest. Although it surprised her into grunting, her grip on the boy slowly weakening, a second stalactite spike made the gasping Catriona slide off of his form and back onto the ring's tiles behind her. The injured Raynard grunted as he pushed up against the ground, gasping in effort as he attempted very quickly to stand; the watching Catriona widened her eyes and pressed her assault a second time, leaping forward in a wide horizontal haymaker. He widened his chestnut-brown eyes again and ducked his head to his lower-left side to evade it but couldn't avoid the follow-up; the acrobatic young woman swung her body 'round in a deft roundhouse kick, colliding with his small form and sending him yelling through the air.

He widely opened back up his eyes however as he shot down his right arm to recover with; he pressed it down roughly and pushed up to back-flip up further into the air. The fast-pursuing form of Catriona turned her grin skyward before grunting as she swung her fire-fist horizontally, casting flying Aegir-blades off in the defenceless boy's direction.

It was only when the blades made contact, however, that she widened her similarly-coloured eyes and realised that the form she was staring at was merely an after-image.

"Too late!"

–

2

SMASH-KERASH

In Raynard's angered comeback, he re-appeared directly on the young woman's defenceless side, ruthlessly slamming his fist across her face before following up with a skyward-deigned vertical assault kick. Catriona grunted as she was sent launching into the air, blood escaping her lips as she flew. Raynard scowled lowly as he regained his stature and narrowed his chestnut-brown eyes as he lowered himself before suddenly disappearing; a sign of his superspeed.

The black-haired boy's form abruptly formed below the wide-eyed young woman and he widened his own eyes as he opened his mouth.

"Get ready!"

FWIP

Catriona gasped, unable to react as her opponent merely spun her form mid-air into an endless levitating roll; something that he followed up a second time as the pair began to descend downward.

"Here comes the counter-attack!" The narrow-eyed Marshall exclaimed out heatedly, clenching a fist as he stood up from his seat to get a better look at the high-flying pair. "This is gonna hurt!"

Seth followed suite, a contrasting open-mouthed smirk on his face. "Let's gooooo!"

As the two warriors spun down in divergent speeds, Raynard at last reacted; he smashed his fist once across her lower-chest region then again as they hit the half-way point. When they at last began to approach the ground beneath them however, the black-shaded fire that filled his left leg intensified similarly to her own; a Quintessence-powered assault.

When the two's forms reached the tiled ground beneath them, Raynard smashed his Aegir-filled kick cruelly into her chest, drawing a wide-eyed cough of blood and agony.

"Now DIE!"

KERRRRASSSHHHHH-RUMBLE-RUMBLE...

The watching audience waited on baited breath as the pair appeared to be stuck in time limbo itself; Raynard at last reacted however. He coughed out his own share of blood, wide-eyed and surprised as he dragged his body away from the massive wreckage he managed to create. The watching Marshall turned his brown-haired head 'round to nod toward what seemed to be a staff member waiting in the competitor's box; receiving the prompt he needed, the two men dashed into the ring, presumably to attend to the fallen Catriona.

As the gasping Raynard very slowly rose himself up to his feet, he shut one of his eyes in sheer agony as he scowled forward, wobbly on his feet as he waited for the referee and medic's result. A few seconds felt like sheer torturous hours for the watching audience; they lingered on in agonising unrest, wide-eyed and murmuring as they watched the young woman's eyes close.

Everyone clearly had the same inner question.

Was she dead or not?

The kneeling referee nodded as the medical professional turned to speak to him; seemingly valuable information. At last the man stood to attention and stepped over toward the narrow-eyed Raynard. Surprising everyone he reached down and took the boy's hand before rising it up in victory.

"Catriona is unconscious and unable to battle!" He called out in his hardened, professional frown. "Raynard is the winner of this set!"

\--

In a cacophonous cheer to match the battle cries of Aurelian's old, the watching audience let loose bellows and echoing cries that reverberated as far as Hyrule Castletown itself, leaving the gasping Raynard barely able to stand.

Even in his hardened, bloody scowl.

"That was incredible...," Zelda murmured out, her sky-blue eyes widened in shock and surprise at the proceeding events below. "I've never seen anyone move that fast."

"No kiddin'," Malon laughed, hands on her knees as she bent forward to get a better look. "That was over pretty quick!"

"Catriona was fairly strong but she was also predictable," Impa wisely stated out, folded-armed as always in her business-like frown. "Raynard took advantage of that and delivered a counter-attack to finish the engagement."

"He wasn't quick enough to avoid injury himself though...," the grinning-faced Darunia offered into the conversation, nodding downward at the coughing young boy below them. "Look at that."

"Yes, I see that...," the frowning-faced king Zora nodded, briefly bent forward before pulling his aqua-bodied body back. "I imagine he's happy to have won."

"I know I would be," Malon grinned back at him before turning around to re-face the front. "I wonder how Link's thinking about it right now."

"Probably that he wants to fight both of them and as soon as possible," Zelda similarly grinned back at the little farm-girl, knowing and all. "He's also a bit predictable that way."

Malon giggled, amused.

"What a savage and brutal second round that was!" Marshall's amplified baritone echoed out, surrounding the rest of the cheering and roaring audience around him. "Although Burcania's incredibly-quick offence laid her a foundation with which to win, Van Garrick's defensive response was just too ferocious!"

"I feel shocked!" The laughing-faced Seth began, leaning back in his chair. The audience let out a half-listening laugh to the youth's not-so-obvious words, leaving the frowning-faced Marshall to exchange an annoyed look with him before swiftly regaining his sociable smile as he refaced the front.

"Let's get a word from our winner today!"

Sure enough, just as the pair of co-commentators did with Barkner, the two announcers stepped up from their table in the grass and hopped up to join the referee and the black-haired boy. Raynard, half-surprised, swung his bloody-faced scowl 'round their way as if they were enemies, before fairly quickly settling his glaring-faced gaze when he realised who they were. The nameless referee merely nodded in the announcers' two directions before turning to leave for the competitor's box.

"An improbable victory you've gained here today Master Van Garrick!" Mr. Marshall smiled on as sociably as he usually did, the small Gossip Stone he used to speak through in his right hand. "How are you feeling right now?"

Raynard's scowl twitched in the man's direction. "Better 'n her." He batted back, nodding his spiky-haired head in the unconscious woman's direction behind him. Although Seth winced professionally, Seth threw his head back in raucous laughter, drawing a similar laughing reaction from the crowd around him.

"I must admit, that counter-attack looked absolutely savage!" Marshall claimed, his smile soon regrowing on his countenance as he did. "Was it one of the Van Garrick techniques?"

Raynard's black-flaming eyebrow snaked upwards, half in suspicion and half in curiosity, perhaps at the man's intentions before he finally re-opened his mouth to respond. "That's for me to know."

This time Marshall laughed, a good-natured smile on his face. "A man who plays his cards close to his chest! I can respect that!"

"What's your plans now kid, now that you've advanced?" Seth grinned on exuberantly, lowering his Gossip Stone for the boy to speak through. Raynard exchanged his scowl with the older man above him before letting his light-brown eyes wander to his left. They double-took however when he clocked a blonde-haired boy standing and grinning back at him in the entrance to the competitor's box ahead, joined only by two companions; one a Goron and another a Zoran.

Raynard narrowed his eyes at the boy in warning and suspicion. "To advance further," he finished with, swinging his bloody-faced scowl back up to the blinking Seth. "I'm gonna win this thing."

"Much as I expected!" Marshall chuckled well-heartedly, smiling on as he did. "And with that, a close to round two! Our winner today is Raynard Van Garrick! Everyone; one more hand for the lost clan of the Van Garricks! And for our loyal stubborn fighter Catriona!"

As with their challengers before, the listening audience gave vent to a stand-shaking cheer that rocked the very foundations of their seating, their enthusiasm for the next round growing.


	4. Pincers & Pain; Dictating the Pace of the Match

Chapter 4: Pincers and Pain; Dictating the Pace of the Match  
Scuffle at the Hylian Hyrax Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Main Menu (A)" - Super Street Fighter IV OST. Scene 1 (First Half).  
"A Searing Struggle" - YS III: The Oath in Felghana OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).  
"The Place, 1997 (Arranged)"; Alwyn's Theme - Tekken II OST. Scene 3 (First Half).  
"Moments of Peace" - Dynasty Warriors V OST. Scene 3 (Second Half).

\--

An explosive confrontation of sheer tenacity and stubbornness; Catriona Burcania and Raynard Van Garrick have their long-awaited second round match-up and what a contest it was. Although Catriona's initial opening assault built a powerful and respectable momentum, it was Raynard himself that managed to turn the thrust of war and regain control of the pace of the match; with the great forgotten powers of the forgotten Van Garrick clan, Raynard's savage counter-attack lands and leaves her unconscious from the sheer strength of it.

Already the Hylian Hyrax national championships have progressed through two of their openings in the top eight qualifiers; two of the four opening rounds have been started and completed. Both Barkner the Goron and Raynard the Hylian advance to their next rounds and opponents, soon to be decided by the winners of their previous rounds.

In round three, former Zoran military man Alwyn Weirson himself draws his match-up card against the Stralanavian fighter, Kaiser Pashkov. With at least ten to twenty years of battle experience in the military, Alwyn most definitely has the edge in hardened knowledge but our heroes know almost nothing of their opponent.

Said to be a man that hails from the far-off northern country of Stralanavia, Kaiser is a man of some repute with his own circle for his time in the military as an enforcer. Unfortunately for the rest of the contestants, however, Stralanavia as a country is notorious for its secrecy and concealment; barely any information that is even considered half-valuable is leaked out of the country. An incredible feat given how easy it usually is to suffer such a blunder.

Hyrule collides savagely with Stralanavia as Alwyn of the Zorans and Kaiser of the Aurelians clash; a battle of the military itself...

\--

Scene 1

"Hello everybody, one and all! Hylians, Gorons, Zorans, Deku, Aurelians and everything in between; we're coming to you live here at beautiful Hyrule Castle!" Mr. Marshall's deep baritone called out, echoing on as reliably as it did through the small Gossip Stone in which he spoke into, powered through the two larger ones built into the building next to him itself.

"His name's Mr. Marshall!"

"And his name's Tasty Seth!" Marshall responded, ever in his sociable smile. "Welcome, one and all to the Hylian Hyrax!" He greeted the cheering audience watching them. "If you're just joining us then sit tight! We're already two opening matches through our top eight qualifiers; from unlikely winners to explosive results, we've already had 'em all!"

The crowd called out in approval as he spoke, their morale high.

"You said it Marsh!" The grinning-faced Seth exclaimed, leaning forward to bump his fists with the older man. "Barkner Elbrus and Raynard Van Garrick both advance to their side of the quarter-finals! A tale of experience versus the underdog!"

"Right you are Seth and what a pair of opening matches they were," Marshall smiled alongside his younger companion in a positive nod. "We're round three-deep in this competition folks! We've had some shocking upsets as it is and we've yet to even see the semi-finals yet! For the first national championship tournament in Prima's World Tour we have quite possibly one of the best in our time!"

"In our damn generation even!" Seth agreed fiercely, ever in his laughing-faced grin. "I've seen fights here that I would never have called!" The young man laughed before shaking his index finger at the crowd, grinning impertinently as he ever did. "Just as well I didn't put Rupees on these!"

The listening audience managed an appreciative chuckle.

"Next up we have two former military men for your entertainment!" Marshall called out, smiling as he spoke through his Gossip Stone. "A man said to have worked within the confines of Stralanavia's military as an enforcer; Kaiser Pashkov!"

Just as they always did, a display pictograph of a human-looking man sat on the tournament building's wall; an aqua-haired man of some haughty disposition, looking down on the very watchers themselves. He stared back at them in his light-green-eyed glare, a kind of superior look about him.

Kaiser Pashkov

Side-Stepping: A

Agility: S

Grapple Countering: A

"There's not much we do know about him, but Kaiser is said to be a formidable foe indeed!" The frowning-faced Marshall explained briefly, eyeing the man's statistics under his identification pictograph before re-facing the audience ahead. "In his time as Stralanavia's enforcer, he's picked up many tricks and styles of fighting! Something we'll see in no-time flat I imagine!"

"But, wait!" The contrastingly-faced Seth grinned in. "There's more!"

Sure enough, the pictograph of Kaiser's likeness soon changed and morphed into a tall blue male's; a Zoran's. Ever with his notably-injured head-fin, Alwyn stood in his business-like frown, folded-armed and all.

Alwyn Weirson

Combination Damage: A

Agility: S+

Punishment Proficiency: S

"Another man of former military; that's right ladies and gentlemen!" Marshall smiled this time, clicking his fingers expectantly as he cast his gaze toward the enraptured audience before him. "Brewed right here in your home country of Hyrule!"

The listening crowd let out a thunderous roar, especially the watching Zorans.

"This guy's insane Marsh!" Seth called out, eyes briefly shut as if over-excited in his words. "He broke all the records for the preliminaries like they were candy...!"

"Truly a fearsome opponent indeed," the nodding Marshall smiled in the youth's ecstatic direction. "Alwyn is said to have taken part in countless Zoran battles, including the civil war just a mere eleven years ago!"

"Hell of a time to be alive Marsh." The lightly-smiling Seth tilted his head in an agreeable nod.

"It is at that Seth! And one hell of a day to enjoy one more opening qualifier match!"

ROOOAR

As the audience thundered out their cheer for the upcoming match, a good one at that, the smiling-faced Marshall pointed a finger directly at them.

"We'll have them both out there as quickly as we can! Don't go away!"

~

As the wincing Raynard stepped through the competitor's box, his leg near limping presumably from the effort of his last match, he kept the scowl present ever on his young countenance. The grinning-faced Hero of Time himself lingered in the doorway, nodding his blonde-haired head upwards in greeting, his normally hidden ponytail bouncing up with him. The scowling-faced Raynard merely voicelessly glared back at the sociable youth, seemingly unwilling to engage in conversation.

Or at the very least, very reluctant.

"What...?" The black-haired boy spat out, the tone on his tenor an angry one as he narrowed his light-brown eyes in suspicion at the youth.

"Nothin'!" The grinning Link shot back, re-raising up his similarly small arms to rest behind the back of his head; an old and comfortable habit. "Just saw your match!"

Raynard's glare skewed a bit, one of his chestnut eyes narrowing. "And?" He pressed.

"I thought you both did really well!" The young Hylian shot back, grinning as ever in his confident beam. "But that counter-attack... whew!" He grinned on out, eliciting a narrow-eyed glare for his trouble. "She ain't gonna be able to stand for weeks after that!"

"Well she should have thought of that before she decided to compete... shouldn't she have."

Raynard's harsh tone was as recognisable as always; in spite to how he first met him, the listening Link couldn't help but laugh in response, merely happy for the chance to speak with the boy after the initial tragedies in the first timeline.

He felt similarly with the formerly-deceased Alwyn and Barkner.

Unable to quite make out the blonde boy's odd behaviour, Raynard merely huffed through his injuries and pushed past the group of three, glaring as he always did.

"Out of my way."

The watching Link merely grinned on as he watched the black-haired youth limp on away, scowling as unsociably as he liked to.

"Impa's right," Alwyn spoke up with his business-like frown, folded-armed as always. "That boy's troubled."

"Mm, I dunno," the well-natured Barkner began in his own light smile, hands on his rocky hips. "Maybe pipsqueak's right?" The Goron continued on, ever the pillar of optimism. "I remember I used-ta think the same thing about you!"

"Me...?" Alwyn batted back, half-insulted as he swung his blue-shaded head 'round in annoyance. "What's wrong with how I act?"

The listening Barkner chose not to respond; he only erupted into laughter, almost as soon as the grinning-faced Link did. Alwyn rolled his eyes, expectant and all.

"M-Master Raynard, wait!"

As one of the medical professionals that attended earlier to Catriona rushed over from the centre of the ring came rushing toward them, the named Van Garrick himself revolved his body 'round in a narrow-eyed glare to face him.

"You look fairly worn from the battle...," the man gasped out, attempting to catch his breath after rushing to catch up with the boy. "Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

Sure enough, even as the dismissive Raynard rolled his eyes away from the man, everyone got a good enough look at the bruises and blood hanging on the side of his mouth.

It was as clear as day, all in great spite to his stubborn attitude.

"Guess it can't hurt..."

The medic smiled appreciatively and set down the bag he carried full of tools to assist him with, nodding as he bent down open it up.

"So who's your Rupees on this time Bark?" Link called up his affectionate nickname for the similarly cheery Goron next time. "I mean that Kaiser guy's pretty tough!" He hung in the air lightly, half-casting his grin at the listening Alwyn on his left.

Barkner laughed uproariously as he liked to. "Yeah it sounds like he's got ol' Alwyn beat! Youth beats age after all!"

"Tch..."

Alwyn's disappointed shake of his head said it all; the mischievous pair swung their grins 'round on the listening Zoran, waiting for his inevitable response.

"You put down Rupees on that joker?" The former soldier shot back, eyebrow risen in his own display of camaraderie. "And I'll be the one collecting them," he finished in a confident and half-serious smirk on his face, drawing a simultaneous laugh from the jolly Link and Barkner. "I must admit though, I know very little on this guy" The Zoran claimed, his smirk very quickly morphing into an unsure frown as he swung it upwards to cast his eyes in the box's main waiting area.

There, waiting in the centre in perfect posture, was the calmly-smiling form of Kaiser himself. When he clocked the firmly-frowning form of Alwyn staring back at him, he rose up his right hand and flicked his fingers up across his strands of aqua-shaded hair.

Another taunt.

"He puts on a good show, that's for sure." Barkner commented on with a half-amused grin, poking his head 'round the corridor to spy on the far-off Kaiser.

"Come on Al," Link rolled his oceanic eyes in exasperation, grinning on with his Goron comrade. "You, me and Bark know you're gonna wipe the floor with that guy," he claimed, confident as the day he was born. He turned briefly to eye the standing Barkner, eyebrow risen as his ponytail of blonde hair whipped 'round with him. "Am I right?" He posed forward.

Barkner chuckled in his affirmative nod. "Right!"

"Mmm...," Alwyn murmured, his ocean-teal eyes narrowing as they stared directly into the depths of his new enemy's, suspicious and curious. "I'm not so sure," the Zoran veteran admitted, shaking his head. "He is younger than I am and we know very little on him, but..."

"Ever the optimist, huh?" Link shot back, folding his own small arms at the man. Alwyn swung his frown down on the youth before upturning it into a light smirk.

"I'm a pragmatist; it's something they tend to teach within military schools and academies," he shot back in his knowing grin. "Sometimes having the wrong information can be worse than having none."

"Can competitors Kaiser Pashkov and Alwyn Weirson please approach the ring? Your match is up!"

One of the staff members' calls from outside of the box, poking his head through in his sociable smile managed to pull the trio out of their well-held conversation. Alwyn swung his head 'round to glare back at the half-smirking face of Kaiser, having known of their eventual face-off with each other.

"All right man, good luck!" Barkner whispered in his sociably-held grin, clenching a rocky fist up at him as if to instil his energy within the Zoran.

"Not that he needs it!" Link boldly shot back before re-facing the man and slapping the side of his arm amicably. "Our boy's gonna take this one in no time flat!"

"Hmph...," the half-smirking Alwyn murmured out before nodding his head upwards. "We'll see."

–

2

"In all my years of commentating in this sport folks I must admit, this never gets old!"

Mr. Marshall's baritone echoed out as powerfully as it always did, bolstered by the watching audience's yells and roars as the firmly-frowning forms of Alwyn and Kaiser slowly marched out of the competitor's box behind them.

"Sometimes I even prefer the hype-time up to a match before the match itself!" Marshall smiled on. "It's just far too exciting!"

"You daaaamn right Marsh!" The grinning Seth exclaimed in his agreeable call, ever lazing in his seat; the picture of youth. "The hype is too real man!"

"Just as I say it, here they come ladies and gentlemen! It's your champions for today's next opening qualifier!"

As Marshall's words echoed on out the two former soldiers stood to attention in their appropriate martial arts' forms; Kaiser in a fairly simple one, his right hand resting half-raised at his side and his left lowered to his left presumably for grappling with. Alwyn instead lowered his form fairly considerably so that he leaned down forward, eyes narrowed as he lay ahead his left fist open at the palm, his right clenched and resting behind his back.

"Red side, ready!"

As one of Prima's staff members' called out from the grassy side of the ring-out area, the lightly-smirking Kaiser nodded slow and deliberate; a look of bold confidence.

"Blue side, ready!"

Alwyn instead nodded his blue-shaded head upwards, his firm frown fraught upon his face.

"Begin!"

~

In a sudden burst of speed Alwyn opted not to waste any time in his initial assault; his low form abruptly shimmered and vanished in and out of itself as a symbol of the after-image technique.

A signature of superspeed.

He re-appeared fairly quickly in the half-smirking Kaiser's right, grunting as he threw a roundhouse in the younger man's direction.

"Hmph..."

Even while the haughty-faced Kaiser called out his murmur, eyes shut as he rose his aqua-haired head, a near invisible shield of what seemed to be Aegir formed between them to effectively protect its host.

"A defensive technique to counter Alwyn's quick assault!" The watching Marshall called out, fist clenched at his side as he narrowed his eyes. "But for how long?!"

In spite of his lack of success, the similarly-eyed Alwyn merely continued his offensive as if to experiment with the quick-forming shields of Quintessence that shot up between them, ocean-teal eyes glaring on as he did. It was only when Kaiser re-opened his eyes, however, and unfolded his arms that the Aegir in his shields began to move differently; Alwyn widened his eyes and elongated his fins with which to defend himself, natural blades and all.

He spun around in place athletically as he swung his fin-swords defensively at the very-visible plumes of Aegir that came barrelling after him. The smirking-faced Kaiser watched from his position of security, not without a heightened sense of superiority. During one defensive slice, Alwyn grunted as he swung a second roundhouse Kaiser's way and, sure enough, the Quintessence that so selflessly came to defend him with shot up between them.

"Tch...!" The Zoran managed out, eyes narrowed forward. Soon enough, however, the Aegir – obviously on silent orders of the watching Kaiser – decided to move in counter-attack; as it quickly shot forward to strike him, Alwyn grunted a second time as he back-dashed to safety. Using his acrobatic skill, he pushed up off the ground to back-flip high into the air and narrowed his eyes forward as he tossed his fin-swords ahead as if they were mere boomerangs.

WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK

Just as with his direct assault attempts, Alwyn's fin-swords bounced off harmlessly and came careering back to meet his forearms as he landed, eyes narrowed as he did.

"Incredible!" The wide-eyed Marshall exclaimed, fist clenched in excitement as always. "Alwyn's super-fast assault saw no success; Kaiser's defence is just too resolute! Surely there's something he can do!"

"Yo this guy is intense Marsh!" The grinning-faced Seth commented on, leaning forward in his chair as he did. "Just look at him!"

Sure enough as the cheering audience watched on, they found that the Stralanavian soldier himself hadn't even opened his mouth as of yet.

An odd individual, to say the least.

"That ain't good...," the watching Barkner winced from the competitor's box. "How the hell is this guy doing all that?"

"Din only knows...," the frowning-faced Link murmured out in similarly-unsure agreement. "He must be using his Aegir as a shield somehow!"

"You sure...?"

The clueless Link swung his surprised blonde-haired head 'round on the Goron, curious and all.

"Somethin' tells me he ain't doin' that himself...," the normally cheery-faced Goron murmured out, folding his rocky arms together as he narrowed his eyes forward thoughtfully. "They say that, in his time as a Stralanavian enforcer, Kaiser had never suffered a projectile in war-time combat let alone an actual direct hit."

Link blinked, turning his whole body to face the man with. "W-What are you saying?"

Barkner swivelled his eyes 'round to frown back at the youth sombrely, a hardened look to his facial expression. "I'm saying that, in his time in the military, no-one's ever even been able to touch this guy." He spoke lowly, his eyes narrowing forward at the ring in the inflection of his sentence.

Link's oceanic eyes widened at last. Having realised the truly frightening potential of the man they spoke of, he merely swung his head back 'round to continue spectating.

"It's clear how this fight will go now with Kaiser's impressive display of defence!" Marshall called out, eyes narrowing. "Unless Alwyn has a trick of his own to pull out of his fin... this match is over!"

This time the listening Seth winced, saddened at the end of so quick an engagement. "Say it ain't so Marsh!"

The watching Alwyn huffed through his small nose lowly as he slowly re-stood to his feet, keeping his limbs apart. Kaiser rose a curious eyebrow, his arms still folded as he stood within his invisible shield of Aegir. Alwyn reached down and pulled out what appeared to be hidden items stashed within his deep-blue scales on his legs; the watching audience fell slowly silent as they witnessed what seemed to be a pair of weights, long and extremely heavy in nature.

"Leg weights!" The enraptured Marshall exclaimed, brow furrowing as he continued. "How much of an increase in speed will this give our challenger?!"

Seth shook his shaggy-haired head dismissively, unwilling to believe it. "Not much if it's just basic leg weigh-"

DROOOOOOOOOOOOM

The young man's grin very quickly fell short in favour of a shocked open-mouthed frown, leaving even the gasping Marshall speechless. The ring itself, at the edge where Alwyn stood, spit up countless tiles, smoke, dust and debris as the items he discarded left their weight in gold.

"Yo!" The wide-eyed Link called, his earlier frown soon morphing into the excited grin he was known for. "Let's go!"

–

3

WHIZZ...

This time, even the watching Kaiser had to drop his superior smirk, this time in favour of a half-curious frown. He narrowed a single eye when the form of his enemy disappeared from his spot completely, replaced only by the massive debris he managed to leave in his wake. It was only when he noticed the quick whoosh of wind that shot almost completely invisibly-by him that he realised it was the Zoran himself.

"Wha-?"

At last the wide-eyed Kaiser spoke; he swung his head in frantic search, darting it around worriedly. At the sheer speed that Alwyn's near-invisible form was moving, the tiles of the ring itself began to kick up into an artificial hurricane that saw them sent flying into the air.

The audience as well as the watching Link and Barkner, of course, roared in approval.

"Go Al, GOOOOO!"

CRACK

"Ah-!"

Kaiser gasped, swinging his head 'round in horrified scouring only to find one of his shields of Aegir cracked, just like a mirror.

CRACK

CRACK

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK

Sheerly unable to follow the super-fast form of his opponent, the wide-eyed Kaiser grit his teeth in an open scowl, darting his light-green eyes in frantic search. A kind of unnatural silence descended down upon the ring; even the watching audience had fallen respectably silent. The aura shield of Quintessence that coated the horrified Kaiser's body in protection was at last visible; with all the cracks in their defence that the Zoran managed to puncture them with, they all lit up for all the world to see, making tiny cricks and cracks as they very slowly edged toward destruction.

At last, however, they gave up the ghost.

SMMMMMMASHHHHH-ASHHHHH...

As the countless pieces of Kaiser's Aegir-shield dropped to the ground, like tiny broken shards from a mirror, he was at long last left open; a defensive faux pas that the seemingly invisible form of Alwyn took immediate advantage of. The attack came at an angle that the wide-eyed Kaiser just couldn't prepare for; he swung his horrified scowl the Zoran's way only to find himself swept under his feet.

"Gagh...!"

As he dropped to the ground, the Stralanavian enforcer attempted to tech by dropping his left arm down to catch his fall. The narrow-eyed Alwyn swung his foot ruthlessly across the man's arm however to deny him it, drawing out a pained yelp. As he dropped tumbling and rolling across the ground he widened his eyes for the umpteenth time when he realised he was fast-approaching the edge of the ring.

Clearly that was his game.

Kaiser grunted as he pushed up off the ground to recover with, sending himself into a vaulting back-flip that sent him a few yards just short of the east side of the ring. It was only when he felt the sound of his opponent's fin-swords swinging away through the air behind him that he realised his mistake; he snapped his head 'round in desperate concern and readied himself for impact as the boomerangs made their final approach.

Very quickly, however, he realised the scowling-faced form of his opponent closing in on him via his front and Kaiser soon found himself pincered; both by the fleet-footed Zoran's fin-swords and his own form himself.

"Tch...," the standing Kaiser muttered out, eyes narrowing into his earlier slow smirk-turned-scowl. "Let's see you TRY!"

In the end of his sentence, the pair widened their eyes in their respective scowls as their forms inevitably clashed with one another, causing an explosion of Aegir and Quintessence that saw even the earlier one sheer child's play. Smoke, debris and all kinds of tiles flew as a result of their epic confrontation, leaving the watching audience and commentators in shut-eyed disarray.

"In... Incredible...!" The gasping Marshall coughed out, left arm brought up to shield himself from the stray debris and smoke that came floating his way. "Not only has Alwyn turned the tides of defeat itself but he's secured victory for himself in such a way that only the military would!" The man called out excitedly, forcing an eye open to watch forward, fist clenched in high-pitched enthusiasm. "A pincer attack! What planning!"

"Not yet Marsh!" The laughing Seth cried out amidst the din of the audience roaring and the explosion before them. "Let's wait for the smoke to clear!"

It took a good few seconds for the dust to settle but, when it did, the watching crowd at last fell silent; wide-eyed and on baited breath, they were all excited to see the winner of the engagement.

At last, as they got a good look, there they were; the standing form of Alwyn stood a few yards away from the edge of the ring he assaulted earlier, seemingly in full health aside from some bruises or other such small injuries.

The poor Kaiser, however, was not so lucky.

Covered in cuts and bleeding from the forehead, his body was sheerly embedded within the form of the brick wall that sat in between the ring and the audience, gasping and coughing in agony. Even the spectating Link and Barkner were left breathless; they stared in wide-eyed shock at the sheer effort the militaristic pair put on for them before exchanging a look.

If Kaiser wasn't touching the grass below the ring, the narrow-eyed Link thought.

Then who was gonna win?

Seemingly sensing the silent ring's dilemma, the frowning-faced Prima staff member stepped out from the competitor's box and exchanged a look between the watching Alwyn and the embedded Kaiser.

"If Kaiser Pashkov can move no more... then I pronounce the winner of this set to be-"

CRACK

The ring fell silent a second time, a wanting and enraptured crowd that swung their heads 'round to the brick wall that the scowling-faced Kaiser was entrenched within. Sure enough, as the noise came from his direction, he was very slowly attempting to free himself from the wall.

"Yooo Marsh, he's a damn painting and still he's tryin' to win!" The laughing Seth called out, similarly shocked. "You gotta hand it to these Strahskies Marsh! They really know how to keep at it!"

"Even when the chips are down my friend!" Marshall laughed alongside his younger companion.

CRACK

Shocking all that watched him move, in spite of his grievous injuries, the grunting and bleeding Kaiser peeled himself, one limb at a time from the brick wall behind him. His eyes set hungrily on the similarly glaring-faced Alwyn before him; a kind of similar look of enmity that only former soldiers could share with one another.

To them, it was a profession.

That was all.

And the growling Kaiser proved it with devotion to his form; at last his body ripped out from under the wall behind him and, as he inevitably began to drop, he widened his eyes and sent his arms to his two far-sides. Almost immediately the shield of Aegir that he formed earlier materialised below him, effectively assembling the man a lifeline.

"A stroke of genius!" The amazed Marshall exclaimed, standing up from his seat in sheer ardour, clenching a fist in display as he always seemed to. "Even as ruined as his fatigue is, Kaiser still finds a way to deny his opponent victory; in utilising his unique mirror of Quintessence he has effectively created a platform with which to stop his fall!"

"Yo I wish I had that level of defiance!" Seth laughed out, a jolly cheer in his tone. "He just does not wanna lose!"

True to the young commentator's word, the narrow-eyed Kaiser gasped as his form dropped onto the makeshift platform he had created below himself. As his slim but heavy form dropped atop it, it very quickly began to give out.

CRACKKK...

The spectators in the audience and in the ring soon grew silent and wide-eyed, watching on in baited breath as the last imperfection blemished itself across the near-invisible shield of Aegir below.

SMMMASSSHHHH

"Urgh...!"

As the grunting enforcer let out his last gasp, his form dropped onto the grassy field beneath him, rolling up onto his back to face the sky high above him.

"Ring out! The winner of this set... is Alwyn Weirson!"

~

"Incredible! Unstoppable! Immoveable!"

Mr. Marshall's excited baritone barely made it over the roaring applause and approval of the audience; something he filled with his wide-mouthed grin as he stepped up from his seat toward the ring, presumably to join the competitors.

"Truly this is a match for the ages!" He began again in his enthused wide-mouthed smile. "Hyrule VS. Stralanavia! Military VS. Military! You can't make this up ladies and gentlemen!"

"Yo that was off the hook!" Tasty Seth laughed alongside the older man as he jogged to keep up with him. "I think that's been our best set yet!"

"Oh yeah...?" Marshall posed forward, a dark-brown eyebrow risen in the youth's direction before he turned to the audience, speaking through his small Gossip Stone before turning it skyward for the crowd to respond with. "What do you think gang? Is that the best match in the Hylian Hyrax so far?"

YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH

Marshall and Seth found themselves throwing their heads back in laughter, having half-expected the near army-like battle cry that the audience gifted them with.

"Sir, I must tell you...," the smiling-faced Marshall began again as he reached forward and placed a hand on the wide-eyed Alwyn's right shoulder. He swung his head 'round, his injured head-fin whipping on in his movement as he did. "That was... easily the best match I've seen in years," the man smiled on back at the former military officer. "How do you feel?" He asked this time, hovering the little Gossip Stone in the blinking Zoran's face.

"Ah-ha... relieved if I'm honest," the experienced man admitted, raising up his right hand to rub the back of his head in half-embarrassment. "I was worried that wouldn't be enough."

"Yo that speed though!" The grinning-faced Seth exclaimed rudely, stepping out from Marshall's shadow as he raised up his own Gossip Stone for the Zoran to speak through. "How the hell did you manage to be so fast?!"

Alwyn's eyes darted around, almost as if suspicious of listeners, before chuckling awkwardly and shrugging. "Leg weights," he admitted in his light smile. "Leg weights for many, many years... and there's always discipline." The Zoran officer finished, this time in a knowing grin, clearly referring to his time in the military.

Seth laughed uproariously, ever the pillar of youth. "I love this guy Marsh!" He exclaimed, reaching back to ring his arm 'round the Zoran's shoulders in a brotherly embrace. "Nothin' fazes him!"

"Indeed...," Marshall chuckled in his nodding, acquiescing laughter before he re-faced the audience, his smile lowering a little. "Everyone, one more cheer for our winner today; Alwyn! And of course for our worthy challenger Kaiser!"

As they always did, the audience roared faithfully for their warriors, their morale hitting the skies themselves.


	5. Progress - Last of the Opening Qualifiers: a Clash of the Loftwing-Style

Chapter 5: Progress - Last of the Opening Qualifiers; a Clash of the Loftwing-Style  
Scuffle at the Hylian Hyrax Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Main Menu" - Ultra Street Fighter IV OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).  
"Guile"; Grayson's Theme – Street Fighter V (Vanilla) OST. Scene 2 (First Half).  
"Yappari ESAKA"; Link's Theme – The King of Fighters XIV OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).

\--

Ring out!

In round three of the Hylian Hyrax's top eight qualifiers, Alwyn Weirson of the Hyrulean Zorans faces off against far-off Stralanavian enforcer Kaiser Pashkov; a match of defensive ability, superhuman agility and a game of chess itself. As the battle begins, Kaiser's odd godly-given ability appears to give him the upper hand; even through Alwyn's quick and speedy strikes he can't seem to break through the invisible shield of Aegir and Quintessence that Kaiser has built for himself.

It is only when he is forced to, however, that Alwyn decides to forgo the incredibly-heavy levels of leg weights assigned to his form, drastically and acutely increasing the Zoran's agility and speed.

The match fairly quickly turns on its head from there. In Alwyn's switch, not only his speed is increased but his strength; his earlier attacks, though powerful in their own right, were not even enough to leave marks on the mirrors of Aegir. Now, in his heightened sense of power however, Alwyn's super-fast assaults easily overwhelm and shatter the very shields themselves, leaving the wide-eyed and horrified Kaiser open and defenceless.

Alwyn goes on the offensive and uses his very fins themselves in an effort to corner and pincer the man; by tossing them in the air to boomerang 'round back toward him, he effectively controls the frontal and rear areas of attack. Truly a militaristic principle in and of itself.

Surprising not just the audience but the watching Alwyn though, the heavily-bleeding and injured Kaiser does not want to admit defeat; indeed, even embedded into the brick wall separating the ring from the audience, he scowls terribly as he attempts to free himself from it. In agonising roughness he manages it but just barely; his fatigue very quickly catches up with him and he summons just enough Aegir to form one last shield to catch his form, just before he drops to the grassy ground beneath him.

But even that is not enough for the poor man.

The mirror shatters, just as the others before it, and leaves the former enforcer on the ground, beaten and bloodied. And in one last call by the referee himself, the tournament's second ring out, the Hylian Hyrax moves its attention to the final opening match of top eight; round four.

At long last Link readies his skills, taught to him by the very same teacher his opponent had, to battle...

\--

Scene 1

"That was awesome!" The grinning Link called out in his enthusiastic posture; his fists clenched at his sides as he leant down a little. "I don't think I've ever seen you move that fast!"

"No kiddin'," the folded-armed Barkner agreed light-heartedly. "You'd have definitely out-sped me that's for sure." The jolly Goron chuckled on well-naturedly.

Having just returned from the ring from his earlier match, Alwyn dropped his cold frown in favour of a half-hearted smile, reserved only for his companions.

"It wasn't easy...," the former soldier responded, lightly tilting his head as he stepped past the tournament's main symbol standing in between the competitor's box and the ring itself. "That guy was something else." He finished, this time in a thoughtful frown as he marched back into the competitor's box itself, now resting within the reigns of comfort.

"Sir..."

The Zoran blinked and swung his head 'round, only to find what seemed to be one of Prima's many medical staff standing behind him, clutching what appeared to be a bag of tools and other such medicine.

"Would you like to be looked at?" He questioned curiously, peering up at the tall older man concernedly. "I've already finished with Kaiser and-"

"No I'm fine," Alwyn refused politely, shaking his head in his business-like frown as he always liked to. "You should go make sure everyone else is okay."

The man smiled appreciatively and bowed respectively before turning, presumably to attend to the heavily-injured Kaiser.

"Mr. big and strong!" The grinning-faced Link bantered with as he stepped forward with his Goron companion, knocking his small fist affectionately against the Zoran's openly bruised chest. Alwyn hovered his eyes 'round, eyebrow rising up in half-curiosity. "Don't need no lookin' after huh?" He asked in his sociable grin.

"If anyone will need looking after it'll be you," the Zoran smirked lowly, nodding his head down at the youth, his injured head-fin bobbing lightly as he did. "I hear Grayson's pretty skilled."

"For a Hylian!" Barkner joked on with the former soldier, drawing a small smirk and tiny laugh from the breath of his small nose.

"Come on Al," Link shot back brashly, shrugging back in over-exaggerative confidence. "You really think he's got an edge over me?"

Alwyn chuckled good-naturedly, raising his slim arms to re-fold them in his usual stance. "I'd say it'd be a mistake to underestimate him, is all I'm saying," he claimed, nodding his head lightly, his eyebrows risen up. "The man's a soldier himself and he's been taught by the same teacher if I recall."

"Oh yeah...," the newly frowning-faced Link murmured out in wide-eyed realisation. "Impa-sensei taught him too!" He exclaimed this time, his grin re-endowing his youthful expression. "This is gonna be cool!"

"Can competitors Grayson Starbrook and Link Firbrand please approach the ring? Your match is up!"

Just as always, one of the tournament's staff members' calls managed to bring the trio out of their well-held conversation; they swung their heads 'round before regaining their smiles.

"Well... this it, Link," Alwyn began again, eyes set on the tournament stand ahead before he re-faced them on the youth below him. "The last of the qualifiers and it's yours," he claimed. "You ready for this?"

"So ready!" The Kokiri-born Hylian shot back, single eye narrowing in confidence as he spoke.

"Go knock his head through!" The similarly grinning-faced Barkner added in, leaning down to offer forward his rocky-bodied fist. Link grinned on as he faced the Goron, rising up his own small hand to slap into it in a brotherly handshake before turning to run toward the ring.

"I'll be back a winner!" The boy called over his shoulder as he turned to run toward the ring, eyes facing the two. "Wait for me!"

~

"Welcome, one and all, to the Hylian Hyrax national championship tournament! I'm Mr. Marshall and we're broadcasting live here in sunny Hyrule Castle!" Mr. Marshall's calming baritone echoed out loudly through the Gossip Stone speakers around them. "If you're just joining us then we're already four matches in this thing! That's right; three of our top eight qualifiers have already been played!"

"Barkner, Raynard and Alwyn guys and dolls!" The ever-grinning Tasty Seth called out. "I'm Tasty Seth and I'll be givin' you the best day out in your lives!" The brash young man called out in a deliberate wink, directing a finger forward at the chuckling audience.

"Our next challengers are both Hyrule-born ladies and gentleman!" The ever-professional Marshall called out in his light smile. "Something I'm sure you'll all enjoy!"

As the audience cried out in approval, as always, a pictograph of the smiling-faced Grayson displayed up on the building's two sides, marked only by his statistics directly under it.

Grayson Starbrook

Combination Damage: B

Defensive Ability: A

Tenacity: S

"Grayson's a man from the local Hylian military!" Marshall smiled on socially. "I believe you folks call it the 'Hylianis Militaris Ordinis'!"

"Yo that's one hell of a tongue twister Marsh." Seth grinned in next to the man, facing him as he did.

"It is at that my young friend," the older man chuckled briefly in his direction before re-facing the watchful crowd. "Although this isn't his first run to Prima's World Tour, Grayson's a man that fights carefully and always watches for his opening!"

"Those soldier-boys...," Seth chuckled, shaking his head. "I'll never know how they do it!"

"And his challenger is one I'm sure we're all interested to find out about!"

Just as the man's baritone hung in the air so too did the pictograph of Grayson slowly morph into the smirking-faced Link; his statistics, still relatively unknown, were listed below.

Link Firbrand

Aggressiveness: ?

Agility: ?

Tenacity: ?

Combination Damage: ?

Punishment Proficiency: ?

Side-Stepping: ?

Grapple Countering: ?

"From what I understand as well, both Grayson and his young opponent Link study under the same master!" The ever-smiling form of Marshall offered into the air. "With techniques they've both taken from the Loftwing-Style dojo, taught to Hylian soldiers themselves!"

"Yooo that's gonna be hype!" Seth exclaimed, clenching a fist before swiftly blinking in quick realisation. "B-But wait! One's older than the other, so-?"

"Not so, my young companion!" Marshall grinned this time, shaking his brown-haired head in response. "Remember the Raynard versus Catriona opening! Age means little in this particular competition!"

"All right!" Seth exclaimed this time, his morale returned as he exchanged an enthusiastic high-five with the chuckling Marshall.

"Is that true, Impa?"

The listening Sheikah woman rose a silver-shaded eyebrow from her seat up in the audience stands, swinging her curious-expressed frown down on the young girl she was charged with protecting. Zelda herself stared back at her in an unsure frown of her own.

"Have you taught this man as well?"

"Of course I have," she shot back, eyebrow shooting back up in half-curiosity. "You know I instruct the hand-to-hand combat sections of the HMO's military training." The Sheikah claimed, a half-smirk raised up on his countenance.

"I mean, won't that be boring though?" Malon offered into the conversation, a wince of her frown flavouring her similarly dissatisfied words. "The same styles going up against one another?"

"I wouldn't say so," Impa bounced back, grinning knowingly as she spoke. The curious-faced Darunia and king Zora turned their relatively-different heads 'round to raise an eyebrow at the Sheikah woman. "I think you'll all be pleasantly surprised."

"Oh yeah?" The muscle-bound Goron asked, posing an eyebrow upward to match his curiosity. "How do you mean?"

"I'm saying nothing," Impa responded, shaking her silver-haired head in her earlier sociable smile. "Just wait and see."

"Best not to ruin the surprise!" The chuckling king Zora smiled on alongside her, nodding as he tapped his cane against the hardwood stand below him.

"Now that our competitors are out, at long last we can finalise the opening qualifiers!" Marshall's loud baritone echoed out, bouncing off the walls of the very ring itself. "Are you ready Seth?!"

"With both barrels I'm ready Marsh!" The grinning younger companion shot back.

Sure enough, as the referee watched between the two fighters from his position outside the ring, he rose up his arm. Grayson regained his professional frown and set his clenched fists at his two sides, lowering his form to crouch lowly, eyes set on his opponent ahead. The grinning-faced Link clenched his own fists, however lightly, and rested them at his own sides; one higher than the other. His legs remained at his own sides, lit up by the powerful-white of the karate uniform he wore so well. It was a fairly basic fighting stance; one suited to the Loftwing-Style.

With his new karate gi he looked every bit as professional as a real follower of martial arts.

"Red side, ready!"

The ever-grinning Link nodded in his fighting stance, his well-kept ponytail of blonde hair bouncing with him as he did.

"Blue side, ready!"

Grayson, in his professional frown, nodded also.

"Begin!"

–

2

"Sonic Boom!"

Right away the crouching form of Grayson let rip by briefly standing to fire forward a projectile from both his forearms, charged with Aegir. Sure enough, a rapidly-spinning crescent-shaped energy wave shot out from his arms and careered ahead for its target; the grinning Link, however, opted to side-step the technique before pulling back his own arms and charging his Quintessence.

"Hadoken!"

Unlike Grayson's 'Sonic Boom' technique, the grinning Link's 'Hadoken' was a lot more simply formed; as he pulled his arms back to fire the projectile forward, he opened up his palms and joined them vertically as he did. The energy wave itself was spherical in shape and red-shaded in colour; perhaps a callback to the youth's Aegir nature in 'fire'.

"That's interesting...," the watching Darunia hummed out thoughtfully, raising up one of his bulky arms to place an index finger on his chin, brow furrowing. "You say you've taught both of them... and yet one uses the Sonic Boom technique... and the other the Hadoken?"

King Zora, Malon and even the frowning-faced Zelda all swung their eyes 'round to face the smiling-faced Sheikah woman; she exchanged a single look with them all before chuckling and smirking before soon nodding in confirmation.

"That's correct; I've taught them both."

"Ah...," the frowning king Zora began again before re-gaining his smile as he re-faced the arena below him. "So you just taught them differently then..."

Zelda widened her eyes, genuinely surprised. "Is... is that true Impa?"

The wizened Sheikah chuckled, briefly shutting her ruby-shaded eyes almost as if in silent confirmation.

"You'd think he'd at least choose something different to attack with," Malon criticised lightly as she rose a fire-haired eyebrow up down at them. "I mean they're screens away from each other."

"But aren't they attempting to control the horizontal playing field?" Zelda responded, blonde eyebrow of her own shot up. Malon swung her curious-faced frown on the similarly-aged girl, unsure. "I mean I imagine that's what their projectiles are for."

"That's correct," Impa smiled in a confirming nod, her armoured arms still ever folded. "Generally projectiles tend to be difficult to counter with. Unless one can cancel them out with great control of their Aegir or with a projectile of their own... you'd best learn how to block them." She finished in a knowing chuckle, grinning on as she did.

Just as Impa commented on the fight itself, the narrow-eyed Grayson shut his eyes and curled up his body as if he were a cocoon; as the Hadoken sphere came barrelling toward him, it safely dissipated away.

"You see?" The confidently-spoken Sheikah stated, a synchronised smile on her face.

"Impressive...," Zelda murmured out, leaning forward in her seat. "To have such control over his own Aegir..."

"Yawn," the sitting Malon sighed, a bored frown adorned on her expression. "I'd rather watch paint dry."

Almost as quickly as the young girl bemoaned her interest in the battle did the fleet-footed Link prove her wrong; as the shut-eyed Grayson re-opened his eyes from blocking the Hadoken his young opponent threw earlier, he fairly quickly found the blonde boy missing. He darted his eyes around in swift search, surprised that he couldn't seem to find him.

"Tatsuma!"

The assault came, not from the front, but from the sky; the Hadoken the youth threw earlier was merely a decoy with which to disguise his follow-up attack. Having shut his eyes to block the sphere of fire, the wide-eyed Grayson could only gasp as the grinning-faced Link swung his Aegir-charged leg in a damaging and savage air-roundhouse, spinning madly mid-air as he did.

"Gurgh...!"

The man was sent tumbling across the tiled floor beneath them, having only just repaired and re-maintained it after the last match's barbaric result. As the smirking Link landed, so too did the grunting Grayson attempt to tech his fall; as he rolled across the floor he pushed backward on the ground to flip lightly, landing back in a crouched state. It was only when he saw the grinning Link swing his arms 'round horizontally around one another that he realised the youth was planning something else; as the Hylian boy's fingers all clenched within his fists bar his index, thumb and forefinger, the narrow-eyed Grayson watched as Link's form slowly began to separate into a team of three copies of himself.

The audience all roared on in approval as they watched.

"Impressive!" The smiling-faced Marshall called out, his baritone echoing out of the small Gossip Stone he spoke into passionately. "Using his Aegir, it would appear our young challenger knows of the Multi-Form technique!"

"The Multi-Form technique?" The frowning-faced Seth batted back, rising an eyebrow upward as he swung his curious-expressed frown on the older man. "What's that?"

Marshall laughed lightly, tilting his head as he re-opened his mouth to respond. "Just wait and see my young friend!"

Sure enough, as the three copies of Link flashed their grin toward the crouching form of the narrow-eyed Grayson, they all opened their mouths simultaneously to speak.

"You ready?!" They all called, their voices seemingly synchronised.

Grayson merely tensed his muscles to prepare himself for the boy's incoming assault.

The centre Link and, seemingly the original, pulled back his arms and grinned on eternally as he fired forward a second Hadoken, spiralling through the air slowly this time presumably to assist his next offensive. The left-standing Link pulled his legs back and called out as he swung one in a ruthless tornado-like spin, quickly progressing forward to attack with. The right-standing Link instead opted to merely run forward to close the distance between the pair, pulling his small arms back with which to progress his next tactic.

"Hadoken!"

"Tatsumaki Seppukyak!"

"Let's go!" The third blonde clone grinned on as he made his final approach with the second, pulling his superior left fist back. "Shoryuken!"

The watching Grayson at last widened his eyes and began to move; he grunted once as his body swivelled around rapidly, creating a mini-tornado itself in the sheer speed he moved at. Even the watching audience had to pull their arms up to block any small stones that came flying their way from the sheer velocity with which they travelled.

"Kaiten Resshō!"

Surprising not just the watching audience but his wide-eyed opponent, the contrastingly shut-eyed Grayson clenched his body tightly before swiftly spinning his form around in what seemed to be an endless twist. The ground began to rumble from the sheer force with which he moved; a fact backed by the powerful-blue Aegir that emitted from his flawless form, essentially creating what appeared to be a translucent sky-blue shaded shield.

The three Multi-Form copies of Link all yelled out alongside one another as they were sent careering back the way they came; the left-sided clone's body smashed directly into the right's, joining together once more, rolling into the original in a violent collision. Link gasped as he peeled himself up from the tiled floor beneath him, chuckling good-naturedly as he wiped away at a tiny speck of blood that leaked from the side of his mouth.

"Not bad...," the grinning-faced youth complimented, lightly swinging his small hand to rid himself of the blood he wiped earlier. "That one actually hurt!"

"Isn't that...," the watching Zelda murmured out, her brow furrowing lightly in thought. "That's Link's-"

"Spin Attack thing."

All companion eyes in the audience stand were drawn to the sitting and frowning form of Malon; she exchanged unsure looks with each one, eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"What?" She asked. "I've seen him fight before too y'know!" She informed the group in a half-annoyed huff.

"Yeah...," the lightly grinning Impa nodded in further confirmation. "That's his Spin Attack all right."

"But if you've taught them different techniques...," Darunia began inquisitively, eyes briefly watching the pair below. "Then...?"

"Some techniques have overlapped," the Sheikah woman interrupted, her smirk soon morphing into a polite smile as she re-faced the Goron chief. "Grayson just executes the Kaiten Resshō a little differently than Link does."

"You're not wrong...," Zelda murmured out, blinking back as she hovered her blonde-haired head 'round to eye the arena below. "That man didn't even need a catalyst to utilise it effectively."

Malon swung a curious-eyed frown on her. "'Catalyst'?"

"Something to help someone extract their Aegir with," Impa smiled in the youth's direction. "Normally helps them. In Link's case I suppose it'd be that sword he likes to carry around with him."

Malon blinked again, half-understanding. "Oh."

"Fire!"

Calling all eyes to the ring once more, it was Grayson's turn to attack this time; surprising all that watched him move, he narrowed his eyes as he leapt up into the air and shot down another Sonic Boom projectile, this time to diagonally fall toward the wide-eyed Link. Left with no other option but to block, Link grit his teeth and scowled lightly as he rose up his small arms and fended off the fast-approaching older Hylian before him.

With the added pressure of the flying Sonic Boom, Link very quickly found his defence crumbling and gasped as the taller military man opened him up with a low confirm combination; one small kick and one tiny jab into a much rougher spinning back-knuckle that sent the grunting Link bleeding and spinning in place.

"Move it!" The narrow-eyed soldier exclaimed, pulling both his muscled arms back, seemingly to charge with fast-powering Aegir. "Soniiiiic...! HURRICANE!"

He roared out the last word of his sentence in a fulcrum of effort to match the incredible Aegir Art that he displayed; as he at last shot forward his charged muscled arms forward, a huge spinning projectile formed in the air before him and completely ate up the gasping wide-eyed Hero of Time.

"No, Link!"

In spite of the horrified Malon's calls, the sheer roaring din of the audience around her drowned out the poor farm girl, leaving only the commentators to digest what just happened.

"Incredible!" The watching Marshall called out. "Only the sheer basics here folks! In a single combination, Grayson's managed to open up his impatient young opponent's defences simply by patiently prodding him with a low confirm...!"

"Better block ya toes Marsh!" The grinning-faced Seth called out, eliciting a laugh from the older man.

At last, as the Sonic Hurricane technique began to fizzle out, the grunting Link was sent tumbling across the ring and, rather anticlimactically out of the ring itself. Covered in bleeding injuries, he shut his eyes in a pained scowl as the watching audience roared their approval.

"Ring out!" The referee called out. "The winner of this set is Grayson Star-"

SHHHHIIIING...

"Wait, look!"

~

The surprisingly-excited call that Malon exclaimed made not only the watching crowd of people turn their heads, but also the staff members themselves; as they did as she suggested, murmurs and surprised shouts came from the audience.

The previously-injured form of Link himself was missing somehow.

Grayson widened his eyes and swung his head 'round to block but, by then, it was far too late; the grinning-faced Link re-appeared directly behind him and reached forward to grapple the taller and older man. The soldier gasped and, unable to tech the grapple, found himself pulled back and up into the air by the surprising strength of his younger opponent.

"Ah...!"

"Are you okay...?!"

Ever grinning on and seemingly uninjured from before somehow, the ever showy Hero of Time grabbed the man by the scruff of his very neck's clothing and dunked him into the tiled floor beneath them.

CRASH

"Agh...!"

Grayson gasped out, eyes scrunched shut as his body ricocheted agonisingly against the ground, leaving him up for a follow-up assault. The widely-smirking Link pulled his left fist back and, charging with fire-natural Aegir, he readied himself for the final pass.

"Bustaaa WOLFOS!"

FRRRR-DROOOOOOOM

The audience screamed out in a healthy mixture of shock and excitement as they watched the youth essentially blast the poor soldier into a barbecue of fire and smoke; as Link held forward his left clenched fist ahead, he placed his right onto its forearm almost as if to power the technique somehow.

The poor Grayson grunted as he was sent sheerly careering toward the edge of the tournament ring; even as he rolled roughly across the tiles, bringing them up in his agony, he shot down one arm to slow his rapid flight.

SKRRRRRRRRRRR

His very nails themselves dug deep into the tiles of the arena and, finding one not enough, Grayson grunted as he shot down his last arm to assist him. Sure enough, just as he began to approach the edge he at last began to slow his traction and sighed in relief as he did. He didn't have much time to celebrate his newly-gained posture however, for the quick-running form of his opponent made him dart his brown-haired head 'round in shock before bringing up his muscled and burned arms to block with.

"Here he comes folks!" The watching Marshall called out, his enthusiasm rising up to match his standing form. "One last pursuit...!"

"I'm on the edge of my seat Marsh!" Seth laughed out, fists clenched at his side.

Sure enough, the grinning-faced Link leapt toward the older Hylian and pelted him with a dive-punch, eliciting a gasping grunt from the man.

Just like I thought, the smirking Link thought.

He's too fatigued after using that Aegir Art.

"Then it's time!"

The Hylian soldier paid for his earlier infraction by finding his form pushed to its very limits and even closer toward the edge, leaving him wide-eyed and gasping. Link piled on the pressure by laughing and issuing out a lightning-fast series of swinging haymakers, all charged with fire-style Aegir.

FRR-FRR-FRR-FRR-FRR

SMMMMASSSSHHHH

The sound of glass breaking echoed out from within as the wide-eyed Grayson found his defence completely crumbling under his younger opponent's wild pressure. He could only watch as the laughing Link followed up his assault by peppering him with a couple more swipes before, at last, widening his eyes and powerfully swinging his fist vertically in the man's opened face.

"Urgh...!"

As the grunting Grayson was sent sky-high into the air and, eventually came plummeting back down to meet him, Link shut his eyes and lost his eternal grin in favour of a concentrating frown. The blonde-haired boy rose forward with his fist-first vertically and slammed it directly into the grunting Grayson's chin, immediately halting his descent and somewhat levitating them together in the air.

"Metsu...!"

The two martial artists slowly began to rise up into the air together, attacker and victim both, fist and chin. At last, as they began to reach mid-height, Link's eyes snapped wide-open and he re-opened his mouth to match his next words.

"ShorrrYUUUKEN!"

Caked in a different kind of fire this time, mainly purple as opposed to his normal hot-red, the grunting Grayson could only gasp as he was sent back high into the air once more. He plunged straight back down a second time and, this time, for good; as he landed roughly into the grassy ground outside of the ring below him, the watching audience remained oddly steadfastly-calm and attentive.

The similarly gasping Link landed on one knee, knelt forward as he rested his attacking arm up back-fisted, clenched and all. His right rested at his side and fist clenched toward the ring itself.

"Ring out!"

The call of the referee at last returned life to the watching crowd of people; they all widened their eyes in surprise, watching between them all.

"The winner of this set is Link Firbrand!"

–

3

"All right!" The grinning Seth called out, his voice barely audible above the screaming cheers of the audience. "That's cool!"

"Right you are Seth and what a set that was!" The similarly smiling-faced Marshall agreed on sociably with the younger man. "Two men from the same dojo clashing with one another in a glorious confrontation of Aegir and physical effort! It truly was a David and Goliath story!"

"One man Marsh!" Seth corrected his older friend as they stood up from their seats to go walking toward the ring.

"And one boy, of course Seth!" Marshall laughed in conceding agreement, nodding his brown-haired head as he did. "How old are you son?"

Realising the man was talking to him, Link's oceanic eyes widened from his knelt stance earlier and he snapped his blonde-haired head 'round to face the two men on his left before chuckling nervously as he stood to attention.

"U-Um... eleven..." He grinned back sheepishly, rubbing the back of his straw-haired head as he did, his ponytail bouncing a little in the effort.

"Such talent! And at such a tender age!" Marshall called out excitedly in his sociable smile, drawing another listening cheer from the crowd watching above. "I imagine you'll be quite pleased with your victory here today! You and Raynard have both set records in the Prima World Tour you know!"

As the man spoke, Link couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise at his words; it was then, however, that he realised the narrow-eyed and folded-armed Raynard himself was watching them from within the competitor's box. Their eyes locked and, in spite of his current fatigue from the earlier battle, the former Hero of Time found his grin returning to him; a counter to Raynard's unsociable and near hateful-faced scowl.

Spurred on by the adults' eyes all watching him he shrugged mockingly and exaggeratively, his grin never leaving him.

"What can I say?" The boy shot back, his eyes briefly shut before he re-opened them as he re-rose his head. "I guess I'm just too good!"

The audience's cheers soon became entertained laughs and the listening Marshall and Seth were no different; they both threw their heads back in good-natured laughter of their own, tickled by the youth's over-the-top confidence.

"I can't believe I was even worried about him...," the watching Malon bemoaned in an agonising groan, raising her hand to rest over her eyes, as if she were ashamed. "What an idiot."

Zelda chuckled in her own smile as she watched however, watching between them. "I think he can be quite funny, actually."

"Zelda!" The listening Malon exclaimed, half-annoyed by the princess' honest suggestion. The frowning-faced Impa rose an eyebrow of half-concern as she hovered it over the sitting princess next to her before upturning her frown into a tiny grin of her own.

One that not even the watching king Zora and Darunia would have gotten.

"Brother certainly knows how to put on a show!" The entertained Goron chief laughed uproariously, opting to clap in approval along with the watching audience. "I love it!"

"I must admit...," the watching king Zora began in a light-hearted grin of his own, nodding his blue-shaded head. "It is quite entertaining."

"Impa! Aren't you gonna say anything?!" The annoyed Malon exclaimed out, turning her fire-haired head 'round to eye the Sheikah woman. She raised her eyebrow down on the little farm girl before turning her silver-shaded head to cast her disappointed frown down on the basking Link.

Sure enough, he was lapping all the attention he was receiving right up.

He wasn't exactly the picture of discipline.

"I'll say something to him later," Impa responded in a calm enough sigh as she eyed the girl. Satisfied, Malon huffed and turned back to face the ring, folding her own arms childishly. The watching Sheikah couldn't help but regain her earlier smirk, similarly amused as her princess was. "At least he's got charisma..." She finished out in a low-grinning murmur.


	6. Potential; One for One

Chapter 6: Potential; One for One  
Scuffle at the Hylian Hyrax Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Falcom Acoustics 2 – Sunshine Coastline (YS VIII) - Falcom Sound Team. Scene 1 (First Half).  
"Steel Myself for Battle" - YS VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).  
"The Beep (Arranged)" - Street Fighter III'rd Strike OST Scene 2 (First Half).  
"The Longshoreman" - Street Fighter III'rd Strike (Online Edition) OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).  
"Ultimate Secrets" - Naruto Part I OST. Scene 3 (First Half).  
"Black Omen" - Chrono Trigger OST. Scene 3 (Second Half).

\--

In a powerfully explosive confrontation indeed, the opening qualifiers of Prima's Hylian Hyrax's top eight have at last come to an end; in the last round the former Hero of Time himself matched up with Hylian soldier Grayson Starbrook.

In their bout their styles clash not nearly as heavily as the watching audience expects. Having learned both their ways of martial arts from Impa of the Sheikah herself, both Grayson and Link exchange the differences in which they were taught; a surprise shared not just by the commentators of the sport but by the watching Zelda, Malon, Darunia and king Zora.

Although Grayson opens with a powerful offence involving the use of his 'Sonic Hurricane' Aegir Art, the devious Link manages to wear the older and seemingly stronger man down simply through use of his own Aegir. By utilising the 'Multi-Form' technique – a craft known for splitting a person into as many copies as they are able – the blonde-haired boy successfully deceives his opponent into thinking the simple copy of himself was the original.

A ploy that saw him to win the match and proceed forward.

With his tenacious counter-attack involving the use of a new technique he dons the 'Buster Wolfos' and the 'Metsu Shoryuken', the former Hero of Time's wild and aggressive combination breaks through the man's guard itself and sends him tumbling out of the arena in a successful 'ring out'.

Now that the opening qualifiers in top eight have concluded only three matches of the remaining four contestants are left to be played; the semi-finals in both bracket 'A' and bracket 'B'. Although the confident Link matches up with his former companion Barkner he bemoans not being able to challenge Raynard or Alwyn.

Two who are also matched up with one another and, coincidentally, the next match to be played.

All eyes are now drawn to this exciting pairing; a former expert Zoran soldier and the only surviving member of the Van Garrick clan, a family steeped in mystery and blood...

\--

Scene 1

"Good afternoon everyone and welcome to this year's Hylian Hyrax! The national championship for Hyrule itself!" Mr. Marshall, the chief commentator of the tournament called out, his baritone echoing out above the roaring cheers of the audience around him. "We're coming to you live through the wonders of Hyrule's Gossip Stones and from beautiful Hyrule Castle! I'm Mr. Marshall..."

"And I'm Tasty Seth!" The younger, more vibrant man grinned into the conversation, sitting next to the more professional announcer.

"For over twenty years we here at Prima have provided the world over with exciting championship matches and, once again we're proud to return here to the glorious country where all Aurelia had begun!"

As the audience outside cheered, their patriotic egos having been stroke, the frowning-faced Link stood not far from the ring in his folded-armed stare. He watched and listened, attempting to work out the man's words.

"Hey, Alwyn..."

"Mm?"

"What the hell even is Aurelia anyway?" The young Hylian asked ignorantly, raising up a blonde-haired eyebrow as he swung his head 'round to face the Zoran. The ponytail he wore his hair in bounced a little as he did.

The similar-stanced Zoran chuckled lightly under his breath before re-opening his mouth to respond. "It's this continent," he explained, raising his own eyebrow curiously. "Don't you know your geography?"

The clueless Hylian merely stared back at him silently in his simple-faced frown.

Alwyn regained his frown, a wince evident in his facial features. "... Geography...?" He tried again.

Once more Link registered his dubious uncertainty with a stare and a shrug.

Barkner couldn't help but throw his rocky head back in laughter.

"Figures!" The Goron exclaimed before lowering his head and grinning down at the boy. "We're in the capital lad! This is Hyrule!"

"That guy... Kaiser...," Link tried this time, eyes briefly narrowing. "He was from..."

"Stralanavia, yeah." Alwyn nodded in his business-like frown.

"Ohhh..." The boy murmured out, lowering his eyes in thought.

It was just like Tatl said to me, he realised silently.

"Stralanavia... it's a country? To the far north?"

There's a whole world out there besides this place, he answered the little guardian fairy's memory in an excited-faced grin.

"So how many?"

"How many?" Alwyn batted back, raising an eyebrow. "How many what?"

"Countries he means," Barkner grinned back, nodding his head upwards as he did. "I'll take this one," he offered the grateful Zoran. "Know your history?" He asked the curious-faced boy.

"Kinda...," the frowning-faced Link shot back in an unsure wince. "I know some parts."

Most of what he remembered were snippets from what Zelda and the Great Deku Tree once informed him on in the ruined timeline in which he came from.

Something about the three golden goddesses and a guy called the Sorcerer of the Divine Divide, he thought brashly.

He couldn't ever forget the memory he had of meeting the man himself however.

The dreamlike recollection he had of the experience was an odd one; when Zelda had informed him that the 'Goddess of Time' would assist him in Termina he was taken aback when the Sorcerer himself appeared before him.

Sure enough though, the godlike figure of Aegir Art and Quintessence did as he was requested and offered Link with which a way to save the doomed country; a constant cycle of a three day span.

"I wonder why he's called the Sorcerer of the 'Divine Divide'."

"Way back when in ye olden times, Hyrule was essentially the be-all-end-all," the grinning-faced Goron interrupted the blinking Link. He swung his frown up to face the man, listening in. "There were no other countries and everyone lived under the Hyrulean royal family."

"I'll bet that was boring," Link shot back, making a face as if he was put off by the notion. "Nothin' ever happens here anymore."

"In a way...," Barkner cryptically responded with another light grin, exchanging a single look with the wincing Alwyn before turning back. "Anyway... when the 'Divine Divide' happened, suddenly there were different territories and different countries."

Link's eyebrows shot up to match the surprise and realisation in his wide-eyed frown.

Of course, he thought.

That's why!

"You got Hyrule...," Barkner began again, smiling on as he rose up a rocky hand with which to rise up fingers with. "Palashia...," he continued on, rising up another finger. "Stralanavia...," he nodded in Alwyn's direction, earning a confirming nod from the frowning-faced Zoran. "Kaiohdrahl...," he said, rising up a fourth finger. "Gylomecia...," he smiled on, sticking up his pinky finger as he did. "And, last but not least, Draerith!"

"Wow...," Link murmured out, surprised. He rose an eyebrow at the Goron, curious. "So why wasn't I told about any of-?"

"Hyrule being the capital of Aurelia tends to... sway... certain opinions in this country," Alwyn interrupted the youth politely, lightly narrowing his own eyes in the inflection of his sentence. "The Hylians haven't always had the the most honourable of histories."

"What's that supposed-ta mean?" The half-insulted Link gave back in his unsure furrowed brow.

"I'll field this one," the grinning-faced Goron next to them spoke in, nodding his rocky head upwards as he did. "Remember the Gerudo? Far to the west in the desert?"

"Yeah I remember the Gerudo; what about 'em?" The Hylian batted back curiously.

"Ever wondered why their ears aren't the same as yours?"

The listening youth blinked in slow realisation and he thought back; sure enough, even in his memories, Nabooru and all the other Gerudo did not sport the small and pointed ears that the rest of his country did.

Not even Ganondorf did; his ears were round, just like the rest of his clan.

That's weird, he thought.

"So why-?"

"Because those people aren't Hylian, like you or your friend Malon," Alwyn cut the boy off before he could even get started with his curious-faced query. "A lot of the people we faced in those preliminaries, and those in the audience, are Aurelian."

"Aurelian...," Link parroted out in a low-voiced murmur, frowning on thoughtfully as he did. "Man... Tatl wasn't lyin'..."

Barkner exchanged an unsure shrug with the listening Alwyn, unsure.

"She told me that there's a whole world out there...!" He whispered out, his excited grin quickly returning to his face as he swung his blonde-haired head toward the ring. "I can't wait to see it all!"

Although his listening companions exchanged another doubtful look together, almost as if they were asking one another whether to tell him something, the frowning-faced Alwyn at last shook his head; a disinclination to inform at least for now.

It would be like telling a child it can't go out to play quite yet, the morose-mood Zoran thought to himself.

"Can competitors Raynard Van Garrick and Alwyn Weirson please approach the ring? Your match is up!"

The trio rose their eyebrows and all eyes turned to their rear behind them; standing at the end of the competitor's box, propped up against the wall, was the black-haired boy himself. Folded-armed as stoically as ever, he shot the group a suspicious-eyed glower before at last peeling himself from the wall behind him and stepping forward to march on past them toward the ring. The similarly-faced Alwyn watched him carefully, almost as if for any signs of weakness or doubt.

"You got this my man!" The grinning-faced Barkner nodded enthusiastically, knocking the slim-bodied Zoran across his back and bringing his consciousness back toward them. "Give him hell!"

"Don't underestimate him Al," Link smirked in alongside the Goron, rising up his left back-fist as if in enthusiasm. "He's a lot better 'n you might think!"

Alwyn nodded wisely, ever in his professional-faced frown before slowly turning to march on after his opponent. "Words to live by. "

~

"And in today's match-up it's another clash of wills!" Mr. Marshall called out, ever in his echoing baritone. "It's two home-grown heroes from your very country itself folks; Hyrule!"

As always, the cheers from the audience told the listening co-commentators that they were calls of approval.

"That's right Marsh! We got that scarrry kid Raynard and to fight with him, you know him, you all love him... it's Alwyn!"

Sure enough, as Tasty Seth's higher-pitched baritone exclaimed out, so too did the listening crowd roar out in cheers as the similarly-faced Raynard and Alwyn slow-march out to stand on opposite sides.

"Two match-ups that we never dreamed would happen!" Marshall smiled on in his confirming nod. "In his victory earlier with Catriona and young master Link's victory with Grayson, they've truly proven that age is merely a number in the martial arts tournament!"

"Can't knock it Marsh, for real!" Seth grinned back, earning an appreciative chuckle from the listening older man.

"And in our man Alwyn's victory against the Stralanavian strength commanded by Kaiser, well... I guess it must be the luck of the Zorans!" Marshall smirked lightly in his own play on words.

"Whaddya mean luck Marsh?! The man was near unbeatable!" Seth laughed in, almost as if he were unable to believe the older man. "Alwyn to win!"

Although his excited call managed to elicit a cult-like chant from the audience in brief succession, the half-smiling Marshall's unsure and sheepish expression told the watching crowd that the man's anecdote completely flew over the younger man's head.

Something that happened quite often.

"Ah... um... yes... right you are!" The awkwardly chuckling Marshall chuckled on in well-natured agreement with the young man, drawing an entertained laugh from the ever-watchful crowd of people in the stands.

"Red side, ready!"

The ever-glaring form of Raynard nodded, unfolding his small arms to set them aside one another in his body-leant stance.

"Blue side, ready!"

Alwyn, similarly glowering, nodded alongside his opponent before setting his limbs apart to fight with.

Just as always, the large gong that the staff members used to sound the beginning of the rounds with echoed out noisily as he spoke above it.

"Begin!"

–

2

Even as the gong called out its cry of war, so too did the narrow-eyed Alwyn move to action; he leapt up high into the air and decided to drift down in a descending dive-kick, deceptive to the eye. Raynard's chestnut-brown eyes narrowed similarly before he shot directly up into the air himself to avoid any possible mix-up; a mistake that the firm-faced Alwyn was counting on. As the small Hylian shot directly skyward, the Zoran below him let loose the fin-swords resting on his forearms even in his spinning and sweeping landing.

WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK...

"Yooo, this guy does not stop planning!" Seth laughed into the battle's commentating with, turning his grin upward as he did. "Check it Marsh!"

"One must always think ahead my young friend!" Marshall responded with, nodding his head up. "'In the midst of chaos... there is also opportunity!'"

The crowd all waited in baited breath as Alwyn's boomerang-like fins eventually found their mark; wide-eyed and jaw-dropped they waited. Sure enough, even the high-flying and seemingly vulnerable form of Raynard wasn't worried; he merely grunted as he expelled a force of his own blue-shaded Aegir as the fins approached.

CLANG-CLAAANG

The two fin-swords clashed noisily with the near-invisible shield of Quintessence before quickly re-rounding their flight to return to their caster. The watching Alwyn's firmly-held frown soon twitched before he re-acquainted his hardened look as the boy began to land. The former Zoran soldier narrowed his eyes and glared on as he swung his left leg horizontally roughly across the air, eliciting the similarly glowering-faced Raynard to duck his head sharply.

Just as he had seemingly planned, however, Alwyn grunted a second time as he continued his string of assaults by short-hopping forward into a savage vertical axe-kick.

"HYA!"

The watching Raynard's tree-shaded eyes widened and, as Alwyn's leg smashed directly down on the tiled floor, only smoke and debris were left in the ruthless exchange.

"Ooooh he ain't walkin' from that one unharmed!" The wincing Seth groaned on in watching.

"He certainly isn't," the frowning-faced Marshall nodded on in grave agreement before doubtfully furrowing his brow forward. "Unless..."

Almost as if he were reading the very man's mind itself, Alwyn widened his own eyes as he watched past the dust and debris only to find nothing but wreckage in his opponent's place. It was only when he shot up his Zoran-bodied head up to his sharp-right that he saw the young boy standing not far from their earlier position, arms ever-folded, his posture leaning and his face scowling terribly.

"Huh...," the watching Alwyn began, his lightly-curious frown turning a little as he watched the far-off boy. "Interesting..."

"What's interesting is how damn direct you are," Raynard shot back cheekily, ever in his hateful-faced scowl. "It's almost obvious." He further elaborated on, narrowing his eyes in the inflection of his sentence.

"Too direct then... hm...?" The former Zoran soldier murmured out, slowly rising himself to his feet as he rolled his shoulders, almost as if he were readying himself for another assault. "We'll see..."

Raynard's hardened frown softened, but just a little, as he rose up a single eyebrow in curiosity in his query-filled stare. Alwyn reached into his fins and, somehow, pulled out a medium-sized bottle. Marked with Zoran writing, it appeared to be some kind of elixir.

"How intriguing!" The watching Marshall called out, eyebrows rising up. "Alwyn appears to be drinking from some kind of concoction! Will it imbue him with special powers?"

"Yo is that even legal Marsh?" Seth laughed on in half-curiosity next to the older man.

Marshall nodded on back, ever in his sociable smile. "I imagine so my young friend!"

After having downed the contents of the unreadable bottle, Alwyn gasped out from the effort of gulping it all down before tossing it aside.

SMASH

As it broke apart outside of the ring's bounds, a new colour began to take shape in the narrow-eyed Alwyn's cheeks; something light-red to indicate intoxication.

Raynard's chestnut-brown eyes widened and, all at once he realised it was alcohol.

"Let's see how direct I am...," Alwyn began again, his brow fairly slowly furrowing as he widened his eyes and, like a light, he was off. "NOW!"

~

WHOOSH

Raynard swung his head to his sharp-left and attempted to ready himself for his opponent's inevitable assault but he simply predicted the wrong side.

WHAM

"Urgh...!" The boy gasped out. Time slowed down for the two martial artists as he was sent slowly rising into the air through Alwyn's sharp-right-turning roundhouse.

Raynard lowered his two small arms to grasp at the Zoran's leg but he was far too late for any kind of defensive reaction; as he was sent spiralling through the air and landed on his back, legs in the air, the quick-approaching Alwyn followed up his assault by spinning his roundhouse down in a devastating axe kick.

"Hngh...!"

The black-haired boy's eyes widened to sheer dinner plates as he shot up his arms and legs with which to defend against the overhead strike and, as it connected, the pair struggled intensely in their similarly glaring-faced glowers. With the incredible level of physical strength that Alwyn put into his hard-pressed attack, even the very ground itself began to rumble and groan from the strain their assault and defence put into it.

RRRRUMBLE...

THRSSH

Even the watching audience all gasped out as the very assault itself left a sizeable crater within the tiled ring, completely annihilating any tiles that may have remained directly close-by.

"Incredible!" The gasping Marshall called out, eyes similarly widened with which to relay his shock. "I don't know how Raynard's even still alive after that; I've never seen such power in all my years casting this sport!"

"Yo that ring is destroyed Marsh!" Seth exclaimed alongside the older man. "I feel bad for the staff!" He laughed out, somehow managing to draw a similarly comedic-appreciative laugh from the near-silent crowd.

As the fiery-blue Aegir that Alwyn commanded only intensified further, Raynard's own light-brown eyes widened before he abruptly moved; in a single stroke, the black-haired boy rolled himself sharply out of the way just in time before the axe kick completed its precipitous descent.

SMMMMMASSSHHHHH

Seth coughed out as he used his free hand to wave away at the smoke and dust that floated toward them. "God-damn!" He managed, wincing on as he did. "We need better spots Marsh!"

"I'd be closer if only the staff would allow it my young friend!" The oddly enthusiastic Marshall shot back in a contrasting grin, drawing another appreciative laugh from the watching people in the stands.

Alwyn darted his head in the rolling Raynard's direction, annoyed, before grunting in effort as he shot down his fists after him in pursuit.

CRASSSH

CRASSSSH

Needless to say, the tiles that Raynard rolled over were completely demolished; casualties in the making of their lightning-fast engagement. At last however the raven-haired youth had enough of his older opponent's domineering; having rolled in such a way that he faced the man upside down, he shot up his right leg skyward to block the Zoran's next fast-descending fist. As he channelled his own Aegir through his leg, so too did the wide-eyed soldier's offence halt somewhat; it wasn't much but it was enough for the wide-eyed Raynard to safely reach up with his own arms and grapple the man's overextended limbs, before savagely tossing him high-flying overhead.

The shock-faced congregation let out wide-eyed gasps as they watched the similarly surprised Alwyn soar conspicuously skyward, his trajectory headed directly for the lush green field outside of the ring and outside Hyrule Castle itself. Realising this, Alwyn grunted as he swung his left fist in a horizontal sweeping motion, releasing forward the fin-sword resting on his forearm.

WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK...

The narrow-eyed Raynard flipped backward in recovery, watching the boomerang-like projectile closely and carefully. Oddly enough, instead of heading directly for him, the fin-sword swung 'round to the arena's far-east side next to the competitor's box.

Raynard exchanged a look with both the soaring Alwyn and the fin, unable to work out his plan. "What's he...?"

Answering the boy's very silent query, Alwyn's body itself began to shimmer a similar kind of blue to his fiery-shaded Aegir before, very abruptly, he outstretched his fin-less left arm forward and opened its palm.

WHOOSH

The watching gathering of people all exclaimed out and cheered as the narrow-eyed Zoran somehow managed to re-trace his flight-path back toward the ring itself, his body shooting directly toward the sunken-in fin-sword he fired earlier. Even as he rolled forward in the air in a deft somersault to recover, landing in a one-kneed frown, the audience all roared in approval for the Zoran-blooded soldier.

"Amazing!" The wide-eyed Marshall exclaimed out, grinning on widely as he spoke passionately. "I'm not entirely sure how he did it, but Alwyn has managed to stave off defeat a second miraculous time through use of his Quintessence control!"

"We ain't seen the last of him Marsh!" Seth grinned on alongside his co-commentator.

It was only then however that the grunting, and seemingly drunk Alwyn managed to let down his watching audience; he rolled his eyes to the back of his head and swung his body 'round to face the skies above as he dropped to the ruined tiled arena below him, seemingly unconscious.

The arena, of course, suddenly turned silent in surprise.

"Is... is he dead...?" Seth hazarded out to ask, raising an eyebrow as he turned to the similarly puzzled Marshall.

"It's... possible he's lost consciousness... after using so much Quintessence so quickly, but...," the watching Marshall shook his head, eyes narrowing in scrutinisation. "Something doesn't feel quite right..."

Raynard hazarded a few steps forward, chestnut eyes never leaving the man's fallen form. At last he stood overshadowing his form, brandishing his black-burning fist overhead as he did. His tree-shaded eyes narrowed a second time before swiftly widening them as he sent it down plunging to collide directly with the seemingly sleeping Alwyn's form.

SMASSSSH

The gasping congregation watched on with baited breath, only to find out in similar-shock faced surprise that the sleeping Alwyn had somehow simply rolled himself out of the way.

"Good lord...," the wide-eyed Marshall whispered out. "How...?"

Raynard's scowl twitched in annoyance as he peeled his fist from the wreckage beneath him before trying again.

SMASSSSH

Once again, Alwyn's form had rolled, only this time to the side from which he was assaulted earlier.

Raynard's scowl grew worse and he began to show his teeth.

"Rgggh..."

He rose up both fists this time, blazing with black-shaded Quintessence, before widening his eyes again as he plummeted them down ruthlessly.

"RAGH!"

SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH

Again and again the seemingly sleeping form of Alwyn managed to evade the powerful blows, somehow by fairly quickly responding in slight rolls.

Needless to say, the ring beneath them grew even worse in its wreckage as a result.

As Raynard's wide-eyed hate-filled shout echoed on out, he fired down one final strike, this time aiming for where the Zoran was rolling to rather than where he was.

Surprising not just the gasping audience, however but the watching co-commentators, Raynard's black-burning fist was stopped in mid-air. As it was Alwyn's ocean-teal shot wide-open and, as they did, the near-invisible barrier of Aegir between them lit up in a beautiful-shaded blue that gave the Zoran time to react. He shot up his legs, one after the other like pistons, in a back-flipping recovery assault.

SWIPE-SWIPE

"Gurgh...!"

A tiny trail of blood flew from the black-haired boy's mouth as he was sent sailing into the air; he righted himself into an acrobatic back-flip of his own before landing expertly on his front. The youth glared on forward before shooting ahead to continue his inevitable pursuit; as he fast-approached the similarly recovering Zoran, he shot forward in a wide-eyed stabbing swipe of his fist, skidding roughly and agonisingly across the already ruined ground beneath him.

"YAHT!"

The audience all called out in shocked surprise when they witnessed the seemingly drunk Zoran simply stagger out of the assault's fairly direct pathway; the former soldier, somehow so professional earlier, was wobbling like someone completely inebriated.

"Now I see!" The wide-smiling Marshall exclaimed, a light going off in his mind. "It's the Drunken Fist technique!"

The listening Seth rose a brown-shaded eyebrow, curious. "D-Drunken Fist...?"

"Normally this is a style of karate that only drunk people can imitate, hence the name," the chuckling Marshall nodded as he re-faced the youth, sitting back down in his seat. "It is the very antithesis to any basic and direct form of combat; a lot of people have fallen to this form of karate," he claimed in a knowledgeable nod as he re-faced the front. "It's not hard to see why!"

"You ain't kiddin' Marsh!" Seth laughed in. "Think I could learn it?"

Marshall chuckled, this time in a knowing smirk. "Fairly doubtful my young friend."

"Hey! Al!"

The pair of combatants, surprised, swung their heads 'round to the competitor's box and found the grinning-faced Link tossing forward what appeared to be a bottle of something. Raynard's tree-shaded eyes widened and he made a desperate attempt to paw at it in mid-air but failed to catch it; the narrow-eyed Zoran soldier, however, grunted as he swung his body 'round expertly in landing it. Sure enough, as he pulled the stopper off the contents of the glass bottle and downed it, it was alcohol; he smiled fairly lightly in appreciation before tossing the now empty bottle high into the air, presumably back toward the watching Barkner and Link.

"He can't do that!" The laughing Seth called out in his watching grin. "Can he...?" He asked, this time in a half-curious frown.

Marshall grinned on, eyes shut as he shrugged back. "There are no rules against it I'm afraid!"

"Damn drunk...," the watching Raynard muttered out, exchanging his annoyed scowl with the wobbly form of his tall opponent. "Come on!"

The boy bent his form low and closed the distance between them by sliding across the ground lowly; like an arrow fired from a bow, he easily ate up whatever wreckage remained beneath them before at last approaching. As he began to make contact, the black-haired boy grunted as he swung a wide roundhouse spinning highly; the congregation of Hylians and Aurelians all called out in gasps as the nimble-footed Zoran merely bent his body backward in a near-impossible angle to avoid the high-strike however.

Raynard growled and stepped forward to press on his assault with, peppering the older man with quick direct swipes of his black-burning fist. Just as before and, unfortunately for him however, the former soldier merely stumbled and staggered safely out of the swipes' way.

"Rrgh... why can't I hit him...?!"

Raynard's angered and silent inward thoughts carried him on as the two combatants at last fast-approached the south end of the arena. Left with no-where to step to, Alwyn made his last evasive cartwheel before responding with a slick pair of jabs in the boy's lower stomach.

"Gagh...!"

As Raynard was interrupted mid-string, he was sent a fraction up into the air just enough for his opponent to follow up; Alwyn swung his body up in a simple-spin before slamming both legs into his chest.

"Wa-TAAA!"

"Hrnnngh...!"

Raynard's one-eyed grunt of pain followed him as his body was sent skidding backward in recovery, tiles and wreckage flying up and dropping alongside him.

"His... his movements...," the narrow-eyed Raynard thought to himself silently as he pulled himself up from his kneeling position, wiping away at the tiny trail of blood that fell from the side of his mouth. "I can't follow them anymore!"

As the staggering and wobbling form of the frowning-faced Alwyn careened 'round the ring following his counter-attack, the watching audience erupted into approving cheers, having enjoyed the lightning-fast demonstration of the Drunken Fist technique.

"It's been years since I've seen the Drunken Fist and used to such a quick and respectable level!" The smiling-faced Marshall claimed, his baritone echoing on out of his Gossip Stone. "I'd almost forgotten what it looked like!" He chuckled on well-naturedly.

"Almost gives ya a reason ta go get hammered, eh Marsh?" The grinning-faced Seth nodded upwards in the older man's laughing direction.

–

3

Realising that the frowning form of Raynard was clearly just standing to not only use up time for the alcohol to wear off, but also to recover, the glaring-eyed Alwyn instead opted to press his attack and his luck along with it. As he began to jog forward, his body swinging and staggering in his drunken form, Raynard growled out as he affixed his own form into another battle stance to ready himself.

In great spite to his earlier unorthodox assault, Alwyn instead opted to go for a fairly direct leaping sweep as he landed in the boy's direction. The narrow-eyed Raynard predictably short-hopped to avoid the sweep before swiftly attempting to counter-attack; he lunged forward as he swung his burning-black fist in a wide horizontal sweep of his own, gasping in his hardened scowl as it inevitably missed its mark. Alwyn's form bent lowly in stumbling-like evasion, somehow able to avoid the counter.

"Tch...!"

FWIP-FWIP

SWIPE

Raynard coughed as Alwyn twisted his body in an acrobatic spin, his fin-swords elongating and sharpening as they unavoidably made contact with the black-haired boy. Small trails of blood fell from his weathered tunic and rags of it dropped down to join the already wrecked form of the arena they fought in; a sheer testament to their fire-like wills.

Somehow in the endless twisting that the Zoran soldier displayed, he ended up on his hands; he shot his legs, one after the other, in quick succession to kick at the gasping Raynard. The raven-haired youth coughed out a second time as he was inevitably sent careering across the ring toward the east side of the wall next to the competitor's box. Unwilling to allow his younger opponent with which time to recover, Alwyn narrowed his eyes and took off after him, his form sheerly spinning in the incredible velocity with which he sent himself in.

WHHHHOOOOSH

Raynard grunted in great effort as he rose up his fists to block against the artificial wind that near knocked him off his feat and further into the wall behind him. At last however as they came within striking distance, they began to engage one another in a swift round of fists and kicks.

SWIPE

FWIP-FWIP

SWIPE

Even in Alwyn's far more direct style of assault the gasping Raynard found great difficulty in landing his retaliations; almost every single one of them simply just missed the nimble Zoran's form. Alwyn abruptly ducked to avoid the wide haymaker Raynard carelessly threw out, his patience fairly quickly lowering, before he flashed his palms forward in quick successive darts. Raynard gasped in effort as he swung his head to the side before, eventually finding himself rolling himself against the wall he leaned on behind him.

CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASSHHH

The wall spit up inevitable boulders and wreckage in the former soldier's wake, eliciting the watching crowd of people to call out in cheers and screams of approval.

"He's just...," the gasping Raynard grunted out out as he peeled himself from the last of the wall, back-dashing to find some safety in space control. "Too damn eccentric!" He began again, scowling horribly in a worried frown. "But more than anything he's fast!"

Alwyn spun his form 'round in a swift cartwheel to stand on his hands a second time and began to advance somehow using them; the watching congregation of Hylians, Aurelians, Gorons and especially Zorans all erupted into deafening screams that shook the ring as Alwyn widened his ocean-teal eyes and unleashed a blazing series of upside-down forward overhead kicks on the boy.

Raynard gasped out, eyes widened as he watched them frantically before shooting up his arms with which to block.

FWIP-FWIP

FWIP-FWIP-FWIP

FWIPFWIPFWIPFWIPFWIPFWIPFWIPFWIPFWIPFWIP

Clearly it was an attempt to push him out of the ring.

In spite to his tired and battle-weary form, Raynard somehow managed to block every single lightning-fast kick that his older opponent threw at him. Gasping as he found a minor window with which to respond, at last the boy widened his eyes and swept the floor to force the Zoran to recover; sure enough, Alwyn grunted as he pushed himself up off the ground in a swift somersault to the side, perhaps hoping to continue his assault on the Van Garrick's seemingly undefended right.

"Not this time!" Raynard exclaimed, passion firing up his tree-shaded eyes as he pressed forward in an offensive dash of his own. "Eat it!

This time it was the narrow-eyed Alwyn that found himself darting his head and his body from side-to-side in rapid succession and evasion, for the glaring-faced Raynard issued out a super-fast return of strikes to attack with.

Raynard widened his eyes, time slowing down for him as he watched Alwyn stick his head down far too much in his evasion attempt, leaving him open.

"Now DIE!"

Even when Raynard's seemingly final vertical haymaker attempted to finish the engagement, Alwyn's body and form was seen shimmering and merely ghosted through the attempt. The boy widened his battle-weary eyes before eventually realising it was an after-image.

"No!"

But it was far too late; the Van Garrick's extended arm was just enough for the narrow-eyed soldier to re-appear and grasp. Raynard attempted to back-dash again to safety but the glaring-faced Alwyn pursued him, following along in mid-air. They exchanged a series of quick kicks together before the gasping Raynard fairly quickly found his legs crossed within his enemy's.

Now he was open.

Alwyn widened his eyes and made one final dash forward, pulling his Aegir-charged fist back with which to attack.

"HYAAAAA!"

SLLLLOSH-SLAM

In a water-imbued palm, with power comparable to a waterfall itself, Raynard coughed out a longer trail of blood this time as his open form was completely caught in the assault, sending him rolling and tumbling across the arena toward the edge. It was then, however, that he somehow managed to regain feeling; the boy grunted and used his Quintessence itself to slam his fist down to prevent himself from falling any further, barely saving him from a ring out a second time. He turned his bleeding and woefully-injured head up to breathe heavily forward, only to find the far-off Alwyn recovering himself. As the Zoran soldier landed in a quick skid, he rose up his own head and re-opened his mouth, presumably to speak.

"Hic!"

The man's drunken hiccups, so surprising to the gobsmacked audience, bounced off the silent stands around him only to leave the watchers in shock-faced stupors. Alwyn merely shook his head as he furrowed his brow, seemingly readying himself to war cry.

"Wohhhhhhhhh!"

~

To match the man's martial arts-inspired war cry, the silent public at last erupted into another of their many screams and cries for approval, cheering on the lightning-fast paced match.

"What a damn round and we're not even finished yet!" The taken-aback form of Marshall yelled out of his Gossip Stone, his shocked baritone finding agreement within the similarly roaring audience. "How in the name of goddess Hylia did that boy survive that assault...?!"

"They're both killers Marsh! Swear to the goddesses!" The laughing Seth called back, shaking his head as if in sheer disbelief. "One man and one kid!" He continued on in his jolly-held laugh. "Yo, I'm callin' it now; one of them is winnin' this whole thing."

"Ah but that remains to be seen my young friend!" Marshall countered, bouncing the youth's prediction back whence it came in a lightly-knowledgeable grin. "This semi-finals set has yet to conclude!"

The firmly-frowning Raynard stood to his feet and ripped the rest of his old and weathered brown tunic off, his cape flowing off into the audience's stands with it. In spite of his young age, just like the adventuring Link, the small muscles that dotted his figure were in full form; a martial artist in early beginning.

"No choice...," the frowning-faced Raynard began silently, eyes narrowing as he continued his inner monologue. "But to rely on that."

Almost as quickly as he was done contemplating, a series of odd ancient Hylian kanji-like characters quickly flashed across his half-naked body. The watching men and women of the audience all murmured out in unsure frowns, looking to one another for some form of explanation.

"That's... odd...," the similarly curious-faced Marshall began, craning his neck forward and squinting his eyes as if to get a better look. "I've never seen this Aegir Art before..."

Seth grinned on, his morale unchanged. "My boy Ray be lookin' alphabetised with all those letters on his body, am I right?!"

Marshall double-took in the youth's direction, watching him carefully for a second before looking away doubtfully, almost as if he wasn't sure what the joke was. At last however he re-opened his mouth to respond with.

"Right you are!"

"Impa, what is it?"

Realising she was caught staring in an obviously shocked expression of her own, and not something very often for anyone to catch let alone her princess, the wide-eyed Sheikah swung her silver-shaded head 'round to face her.

"Ah...," she murmured out, eyes slowly wandering back to the moving kanji characters on Raynard's body. "That Aegir...," she started again, nodding her head forward. "I think I recognise it."

"Really?" The frowning Malon queried, rising up a fire-haired eyebrow on the Sheikah's right. "Whose is it's then?"

"It ain't his darlin'...," the narrow-eyed Darunia wisely stated, his light-blue eyes narrowing. "That's for sure..."

"It does feel familiar, doesn't it?" The similarly curious-toned king Zora questioned from his side, next to the Goron chief. "Now where have I...?"

"You don't think it's the Shinzui Impa...," Zelda hazarded a guess in a light wince of her pale-shaded face. "Do you...?"

The Sheikah woman resolutely shook her head. "No," she stated, ruby-red eyes of her own narrowing. "The Shinzui's Aegir is... chaotic; an anarchy of nature and of the holy Triforce itself," she explained briefly, her brow furrowing in the next sentence of her suspiciously-held speech. "This is something else entirely."

As the frowning-faced Zelda slowly swung her blonde-haired head back 'round to watch the ring below, she couldn't help but feel some sense of dread.

She's right, she thought.

It was faint but there was definitely some distant form of evil lurking away within the ancient Hylian kanji in those characters.

The staggering Alwyn rose an eyebrow and craned his neck forward, his curiosity won by the boy's new transformation; the blood and all the bruises and injuries in which he suffered earlier very slowly all dissipated away, before his very Zoran eyes. The former soldier widened them as he pulled his neck back, near unable to believe it.

"Incredible!" The similarly shocked Marshall exclaimed from his corner at the commentator's table. "Somehow, Raynard has managed to heal himself via use of some unknown kind of Aegir Art!"

"Maybe it'll sober up our boy Alwyn too, huh Marsh?" Seth nudged the older man in a knowing grin, drawing a light laugh from him in response.

–

4

Raynard widened his newly dark-shaded eyes and, like a light, he was gone; the blinking Alwyn, still drunk from his earlier intake, raised an eyebrow in his staggering state seemingly unable to follow his movements. The black-haired boy's rapidly-approaching form came within headbutting distance before the gasping Zoran even reacted; as he gasped and attempted to back-dash to safety, the Aegir-filled Raynard grunted as he sunk his fist directly into the man's lower stomach.

WHAM

Time slowed down for the pair; as Alwyn was sent slowly up into the air, the glaring-faced Van Garrick continued his agonising combination in a simple series of haymakers, eventually ending in a single vertical kick.

SMACK

"Gurgh...!"

Alwyn was sent sailing and tumbling through mid-air, madly rotating with little momentum before eventually gravity did its work and brought the Zoran back crashing down.

CRASSSHHH

Already having been near-completely demolished, the ring itself cried under the incredible strain that its current two warriors were putting it under; something that the watching audience called out with in cheers.

Unfortunately for the poor destroyed arena, however, Raynard wasn't finished; he still had one last assault with which to deliver.

Alwyn barely had enough time to raise up his injured head to find it; his eyes widened and he could only rise up his finned forearms to block with. The wide-eyed Raynard plummeted down in a powerful enough velocity that it left shock-waves behind him; a testament to the near-otherworldly Aegir that coursed through his veins and the kanji characters that surrounded his body.

DRRROOOOOOOOM

Only sheer smoke and black-shaded fire were left in the wake of the boy's final assault; a double-handed vertical slam attack that rocked the very foundations of the arena. The watching audience all yelled in concern, barely holding tight to their seats long enough to stay safe. The similarly spectating Link widened his oceanic eyes in a mixture of realisation and dread when, at last, he realised why he recognised the source of Raynard's new devil-like Aegir.

Of course, the wide-eyed Hylian thought.

It has to be from him.

The man that the royal family, and himself into the bargain, forgot when apprehending Ganondorf.

Link's frown deepened into a hardened frown, his eyes narrowing past his raised arm to block the incredible velocity of the artificial wind that blew around them.

"Scaverin..."


	7. Principality; A Match-Up Made in Fate

Chapter 7: Principality; A Match-Up Made in Fate   
Scuffle at the Hylian Hyrax Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Puzzling Truth" - Fire Emblem IX: Path of Radiance OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Dizzy Maniac" - Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail OST. Scene 1 (First Half).  
"Character Select – Ultra Street Fighter IV OST. Scene 2 (First Half).  
"Theme of Hugo" - Ultra Street Fighter IV OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).  
"The Circuit" - Street Fighter III'rd Strike OST (Online Edition). Scene 3 (First Half).  
"Crazy Chili Dog" - Street Fighter III'rd Strike OST (Online Edition). Scene 3 (Second Half).  
"Last Moment of the Dark" - YS I & II Chronicles OST. Scene 4 (First Half).  
"Termination"; Kage Narumono's Theme – YS I & II Chronicles OST. Scene 4 (Second Half).

\--

"Scaverin..."

It is a name that the troubled Hero of Time thought never to have even contemplated following his tragic adventure through Hyrule's ruined future, but it is one all the same he recognises in the absurd power that Raynard Van Garrick displays during his fateful set with the former Zoran soldier Alwyn. As they pair up with one another in bracket 'A', the two stoic warriors lock fists fairly quickly in a fierce competition of raw strength versus well-held experience.

While Raynard's initial strong offensive knocks Alwyn back, the former Zoran soldier adapts and utilises a technique rooted in the 'Drunken Fist'; a martial arts style that can normally only be imitated by those inebriated by alcohol. When eventually Alwyn's new incredibly unorthodox karate forces the angry-eyed Raynard to respond and adapt, adapt he does; he rips off his old weathered tunic and reveals a new Aegir Art.

One that is oddly familiar to the watching Zelda, Impa and Link.

It is only when the mysterious Van Garrick responds to Alwyn's offensive with his own massive surging increase, that the narrow-eyed Hero of Time at last makes the connection.

Having returned from his adventures both in Hyrule's ruined future and Termina's dilemma a mere three days ago, Link managed to send the rage-filled Ganondorf of this current timeline behind bars. And yet, in all of his adventuring and promises kept to the original princess that he owed his new life to, he forgot one person.

Scaverin Estienne.

A man said to have worked within the clergy of the old Hylianis Militaris Ordinis that, in the original timeline, eventually defected to the rise of Ganondorf's tyrannical dynasty. For seven long years he served dutifully at the side of king Dragmire's dynasty of destruction before finally meeting his match, and his demise, at the hands of the Hero of Time and the princess he rebelled against in Hyrule's Spirit Temple.

Link's eleven year old mind races with the possibilities as to not only how the man snuck away from capture, but how Raynard possesses the man's very Aegir Art itself; a chilling proposition that takes root within the boy's mind as he steps forward to question him about it...

\--

Scene 1

When the smoke cloud at last cleared, the coughing and babbling audience began to fell silent; growing curious for the results of the semi-finals set 'A'. Sure enough, the glaring-faced Raynard stood directly over the fallen form of the unconscious Alwyn, badly-burned and almost near death. Raynard himself, however, was absolutely fine; his injuries having seemingly been self-healed by the odd kanji-like characters that flashed across his body. They flashed one final time before at last slowly dispersing across him as the match's referee stepped forward.

"Alwyn Weirson is unconscious! This set's winner is Raynard Van Garrick!"

The watching congregation of Hylians and Aurelians all erupted into cheers for the competitors, their morale having at last returned to them.

"What a set!" The laughing Mr. Marshall began, grunting lightly as he pulled his messy-self up from the grassy ground, their desk and chairs having fallen in the large earthquake that Raynard caused earlier. "I don't think I've seen one quite so long as that...!" He grunted out a second time as he dragged his chair back up.

"Dude am I gonna have a hangover?"

Marshall swung his brown-haired head 'round, half-worried and surprised by his similarly messy companion's choice of words before he continued.

"'Cause I want one!" The young man exclaimed in excitement this time, clenching his fists together. "That was amazing!"

Marshall laughed alongside him, jolly as ever. "Right you are my young friend!"

"Hmph...," the firmly-frowning form of Raynard huffed out, his scowl turning up at the fallen Alwyn's figure. "Pathetic..."

"Who are you callin' pathetic?!"

The demolished ring, and all of its people, all turned their heads in surprise only to find the glaring-faced Link standing a few steps away from the pair, his small fists clenched at both his sides.

"Oh no...," the watching Malon groaned in a half-exasperated wince. "What's he gonna do now?"

"I think he's... standing up for his companion..." Zelda murmured out, her brow furrowing down at the scene.

"He's going to get us all in trouble if he keeps this up...," Impa sighed out of her nose, her ruby-red eyes narrowing, irritated. "We don't even know who that Aegir belonged to yet and he's going to blow any chance we have of discovering it."

"Mm, maybe not."

The trio of women all turned their heads 'round, half-surprised to find the similarly folded-armed Darunia frowning down at the scene below.

"Maybe brother's got an idea..." He murmured out, his brow furrowing.

"Do you know something, sir Darunia?" Zelda posed forward, blonde eyebrow rising up in curiosity. The Goron chief shook his rocky-haired head in a slow but obvious enough disinclination.

"Not yet. Give it time!" He shot back, swinging his head 'round to flash the princess a charismatic grin. She stared at him for a second, eyebrow raised before turning back to the scene below them.

"That man gave his all to fight here today!" The furious-faced Link's tenor exclaimed out, enraged and boiling as his high-strung temper. "How dare you belittle his efforts!"

"Hmph...," the listening Raynard muttered back, lowering his black-haired head to narrow his chestnut-brown eyes forward at the blonde boy. "Belittle... that's a big word... for someone like you."

Link's eyebrows shot up, half in sheer shock and half in growing rage. His scowl disappeared, only to be replaced with a simple warning frown.

"What did you say?"

"I said...," the defiant Raynard batted back, eyes similarly narrowed, his hands reaching at his sides as if for a fight. "That you're stupid fu-"

WHOOSH

In a flash, not only the watching audience gasped in surprise, but the co-commentators and everyone else in between; somehow, the similarly hard-frowning form of Impa herself had re-appeared directly in between the two. The Sheikah woman draped her left fingers over the wide-eyed Link's forehead; a warning and a checkmate all in one. Even still drenched in complete rage for the similarly scowling Raynard, the former Hero of Time realised what kind of Aegir Impa was threatening to use on him if he resisted.

But I want to get over there and kick his ass so bad, the defiant boy growled out silently.

Gasping from the competitor's box, the similarly wide-eyed Barkner shot his eyes between the trio only to wince.

"I'm too late...," he whispered. "They're so damn fast...!"

"Don't do it," the firmly-frowning Impa spoke softly, overshadowing the young Hylian threateningly. "This match is over... and you're not part of it."

Although he knew his mentor was right, rage still seethed and boiled within his veins; something that he could barely let go of. He took a long, deep breath and set his arms to his sides before lowering his straw-haired head as he faced the ring below him. The boy re-opened his oceanic eyes and found himself staring down at the cooked and unconscious form of Alwyn. Drops of Zoran blood, blue as the sea itself, dotted small areas of the massive crater in the ring he lay in.

Link lowered himself to his knees and softly brushed at the fallen Zoran's blood with his left knuckles, standing slowly back to his bare feet, his karate-gi blowing in the afternoon wind. The watching audience remained in wide-eyed silence, the co-commentators in a similar state as they waited for the boy's eventual comeback.

"I promise you, Al..."

His words echoed out into the stony silence surrounding the sunny arena, making the spectating Raynard raise up a curious eyebrow and briefly drop his eternal scowl. As the glaring-faced Link at last stood to his feet, he rose up his left fist; his knuckles, now dressed with the fallen Alwyn's blood, faced back at the similarly frowning-faced Raynard. He re-opened his mouth to speak and the people all listened, eyes on him.

"I will avenge you!"

Although he spoke with the same passion and rage he was filled with, he at last showed some restraint in his actions; something that the frowning-faced Impa respected with by lowering her hands and stepping out of the boys' line of sight.

Almost immediately the watching audience erupted into thunderous applause and cheers for the display, having been moved to high morale once more. Even during the men and women's screams, however, the frowning-faced Raynard and Link kept their eyes glued to one another in thinly-veiled rage.

"How do you like that, folks?" The smiling-faced Marshall called out, his baritone returning in full-flow to the thunderous arena. "A new rivalry is born! And two Hylian boys into the bargain!"

"Yooo they hate each other Marsh!" The laughing Seth commented on, nodding his brown-haired head forward. "Check the look in their eyes!"

Sure enough, the two boys resolutely refused to turn their hateful-eyed glares from one another, holding their fists back purely through the countless witnesses watching them.

Marshall smiled on in sociability as he re-opened his mouth. "Now we just have to hope our new hero survives bracket 'B' and progresses to the finals!"

"Not if my man Barkner has anythin' to say about it!" Seth shot back, ever in his gambling grin.

Marshall chuckled appreciatively in an acknowledging nod as he briefly re-faced the youth before turning back to the audience. "All this and more, in a mere fifteen minutes' time!" He called out, pointing a finger forward toward the watching people. "Don't go away!"

~

"Rgh! I hate that guy!"

"Settle down," the smiling-faced Impa chuckled on humorously, her arms ever folded. "You'll end up getting reprimanded again."

Having been banished back to the competitor's box by Prima's staff, Link very slowly and angrily seethed from his earlier conversation with Raynard in the ring following his match with Alwyn. When the Zoran soldier was taken away by a stretcher, presumably to recover and heal the poor injured man, Prima's personnel gave the green-light to the frowning-faced Impa to join her student within the competitor's box.

Zelda and Malon tagged along however, of course.

"Impa's right," the fire-haired farm-girl agreed in her own light chuckling smile. "I mean I know you and Alwyn were close, but-"

Almost immediately the rage-filled boy swung his angered scowl on her and she found herself near retreating a step back, half in surprise and half in genuine fear. Thankfully, however, a quick firm look from the ever-watching Impa made the angry-eyed Link settle his emotions; he sighed deeply through his small nose as he folded his bare arms, turning his blonde-haired head up to his left as he began to tap his similarly bare foot next to him continually as if impatient.

Sure enough, as he was staring forward at the box's end east side, it was obvious he was exchanging glares with the leaning and similarly folded-armed Raynard.

"Link..."

He blinked and turned his straw-haired head 'round in half-surprise only to feel a small hand softly place itself on the back of his karate gi, drawing his attention only further.

"Uh?"

It was only when he found Zelda standing at an uncomfortably close distance that he near fell to the ground in sheer shock, having not prepared himself. Still filled with rage over Raynard's treatment of Alwyn, he couldn't quite articulate himself in the way he normally did with her when she was this close.

It brought him back to the forgotten days of the ruined timeline in which he came from; the memories of what could have been between them.

And, strangely, he found his temper cooling as it did.

"Alwyn will be fine," she spoke, her low-toned soprano oddly soothing his hardened disposition, leaving him surprised and frowning in her direction. "Some of our best doctors are looking at him as we speak."

His frown flinched a little, as if he were narrowing his eyes in half-suspicion before at last lowering his oceanic-shaded eyes in slow defeat.

"Just focus on your next match...," she spoke again, her tone softly wafting toward him as she took his hands into her own. He double-took in their hands' direction, legitimately surprised, before looking back up at her in a raised-eyebrow frown, a red tint of embarrassment to his cheeks. "Okay?"

"S-Sure..."

Completely abashed by the fact that everyone's eyes in the group were on them both, Link merely nodded hastily and wrenched his hands away from her own and turned to pace around behind him, rubbing the back of his pony-tailed head awkwardly. Although the standing Zelda frowned in half-disappointment at his rash actions, the watching Impa and Barkner both exchanged silent grins with one another, purely amused by the display of affection.

The folded-armed scowling Malon, however, was not.

"About that...," the grinning-faced Barkner began his sentence with, briefly eyeing the children next to him before turning to face the pacing Link. "I wanted to tell you... good luck in the finals."

Link blinked, his embarrassment washed away as he swung a curious frown on the large Goron. "The 'finals'?" He parroted in an unsure blink. "But... I still have to fight you don't-?"

Barkner shook his rocky-bodied head softly in a friendly smile. "No, you don't," he answered. "I gave my resignation to the referee," he nodded his head up toward the ring outside. "I'm givin' you the finals."

Link's eyebrows rose up in sheer shock and surprise. He winced and frowned however. "B-But I-"

"Just pay me back by beatin' that smug son of a bitch," the foul-mouthed Goron grinned back at the boy in another upward nod, earning a disapproving look from their leader at the use of his language in front of the children. He winced similarly in apology before turning his smile back on the boy below him. "If anyone deserves that match... it's you."

Link laughed, raising up a small hand to rest on his mouth in a display of incredulity, unable to find the words with which to thank the older man. Sensing it, Barkner lowered his left rocky fist to him and grinned on as he did; a silent gesture between them, and a nostalgic one at that.

His memories went back to when they first met in the timeline in which he came from; a simple fist-bump that said it all between them. Link nodded, his morale-raising grin returned to him as he shot up his own left fist join with the older man's, just able to hold the tears of gratefulness back.

"Blech!" The watching Malon exclaimed out, at last able to voice her displeasure at the scene before her. When the group turned to look at her she stuck her left index finger pointed directly toward her open mouth; an obvious gesture of her own and not a complimenting one.

Impa for once opted to burst out in laughter, joined by the gently-chuckling Zelda.

–

2

"What's...? Really...? And you're sure?"

The frowning-faced Tasty Seth himself sat in an unsure look next to his co-commentator, speaking directly and quietly to one of Prima's staff members; the referee himself.

"All right...," Mr. Marshall at last acknowledged with a smiling-faced nod, dismissing him politely. "Thank you!"

As the man smiled similarly and stepped back up toward the ring, Marshall turned his sociable smile on the restless audience around him before re-opening his mouth to speak, this time through the echoing Gossip Stone.

"Okay, people... thank you all for your patience!" The man smiled on. "I've just gotten word down from inside the competitor's box that Barkner Elbrus has forfeited his position in the semi-finals!"

The listening Aurelians and Hylians all murmured together in surprise, eyebrow-raised and curious.

"Yooo!" The wide-eyed Seth at last exclaimed, having been dying to speak. "Does that mean what I think it means, Marsh?!"

"You're damn right it does Seth!" Marshall grinned similarly, re-turning his head back to the front. "That means the grand finals themselves are right here, right now people!"

The congregation of people listening to him at last erupted into deafening cheers at the thought of the apex of the national championship itself.

"It's two simple boys! One from the forest and one from the city!" Marshall grinned on excitedly. "Two of these outstandingly talented youths will fight for your approval as champion of the grand country of Hyrule!"

YEAAAAAAAAAAAH

"This is gonna be so damn hype," Seth laughed next to the man. "Who would have guessed it'd be kids in the finals?!"

"Truly, the Sainted Three work in mysterious ways my young friend," Marshall chuckled on good-naturedly next to the youth. "As always, ladies and gentlemen, let's go over the new statistics we've gathered from our young friends' bouts!"

Just as before, the glaring-faced Raynard's black-haired head and face was displayed up on each side of the tournament walls; a coloured pictograph.

Raynard Van Garrick

Combination Damage: B

Aggressiveness: A

Agility: S

"Raynard's very quickly found himself at the very top of the food-chain ladies and gentlemen!" Marshall called out excitably, drawing another cheer from the crowd. "This is a boy with incredible offence and defence! I've never seen someone so all 'rounded in almost every statistic, and so quickly too!"

"He's really somethin' Marsh," Seth grinned on next to him, nodding his head upwards. "I love watchin' him work!"

"But he's a boy... matched only... by-!"

Sure enough, as the older man spoke, a pictograph of the grinning-faced Link replaced Raynard's, grinning away in his usual happy-go-lucky expression. Underneath were his own statistics.

Link Firbrand

Aggressiveness: B

Agility: A

Tenacity: S

"This kid is a firework Marsh!" Seth exclaimed out, grinning as always. "When he gets that momentum goin'... you cannot stop him!"

"Most definitely Seth and a rocket he is; in only a single match he's had here in the Prima World Tour he's already managed to set records," Marshall smiled on as he re-turned to the front to commentate. "Our boy Firbrand has not only gained fast footing within the PWT but he's also gained an extremely quick following too! The fans just love him!"

"It ain't hard to see why either Marsh," Seth smirked on in nodding agreement, leaning back in his chair as he did. "That Busta Wolfos move was sick!"

Marshall chuckled in a nod of his own before continuing. "At last the stage is set! And so we begin the end of the Hylian Hyrax!"

In the older man's enthused call, so too came the daunting audience's cheers, deafening and echoing.

The frowning-faced Link slowly marched out of the competitor's box to the audience's booms and calls, oceanic eyes watching the similarly glaring-expressed Raynard.

"That Aegir... was somethin' else," the young Hero of Time began lightly in his simple frown, watching the curious black-haired boy carefully. Raynard raised a similarly raven-shaded eyebrow in response, his scowl still strong on his face. "Where'd you get it?"

Raynard huffed, half-narrowing one of his eyes in disgust. "Why the hell would I tell you?"

The newly-standing Link stared back silently in defeat.

I know exactly who he's gotten that Aegir from, he thought.

"And it ain't gonna be pretty when I find out for sure..."

"Red side, ready!"

The glaring Raynard nodded in the referee's direction before widening his stance to ready himself for battle.

"Blue side, ready!"

Link nodded in a contrastingly sociable smile before lightly separating his clenched fists from one side to the other, his legs similarly sitting at a comfortable distance from one another.

"Begin!"

~

Last Surviving Member of the Van Garrick Clan  
Raynard Van Garrick

Almost as soon as the bell rang, and noisily at that, the narrow-eyed Link started the match off running; the crowd murmured on in wonder as the youth's small white-clothed form disappeared from sheer common view. The glaring-faced Raynard's chestnut-brown eyes, however, told a different story; as they darted 'round the ring, seemingly with no goal in sight, the watching Aurelians in the audience could only exchange unsure looks with one another.

"And in an incredible start, young Link begins the match off by running so fast we can't even follow him!" The narrow-eyed Marshall called out, clenching a fist excitedly. "A quick beginning ladies and gentlemen!"

"Check his eyes, Marsh, his eyes!" The contrastingly grinning Seth nodded forward, directing his older companion toward the blonde's opponent's eyes. Sure enough as he watched, the black-haired boy was unmoving from his position, eyes darting 'round the arena quicker than silver itself.

"The fact that Raynard can somehow see him is impressive in and of itself!" The wide-eyed man called out. "But will it matter...?"

Almost as if sensing the man's commentary, at last the similarly-faced Link shot out of seemingly thin air on the black-haired boy's left side, issuing forward a couple of quick swipes and kicks. Sure enough, the scowling-faced Raynard merely brought up his arms in swift-moving elbows to block and parry near-enough every assault.

"Hmph...," the narrow-eyed youth huffed out of his throat before widening his tree-shaded eyes and pulling his younger opponent in. Link gasped, his oceanic eyes widening in contrasting surprise before Raynard followed up with a simple extension of his hand; he outstretched four fingers forward toward his opponent's lower chest area before eventually and suddenly clenching his Aegir-filled fingers into a fist as it made contact. "Disappear."

"Ngh...!"

Link grunted under his breath as he was sent skidding back from the sheer force of which Raynard put into his counter-attack, kneeling as he turned an arm down to grip at his injured area.

SKRRRRRRR

The ring spit up plates of tiles as he did but, even in his recovery and as he re-opened his sky-blue eyes, the blonde shot his form to his immediate left and vanished a second time from prying eyes watching the combat.

Raynard huffed through his similarly small nose, briefly shutting his eyes before soon re-opening them in a hardened wide glare; he rose up his left palm, back the way, and it began to slowly charge up with some kind of red-shaded Quintessence. He rose up his pulsating palm and draped it over his mouth before slowly opening it up; the watching audience all called in surprise as, somehow, the boy swallowed the very Aegir he built up.

A couple seconds of near-needless silence knocked against the walls of the ring before, finally, the glaring-faced Raynard lowered his raven-haired head and re-opened his mouth in a blaze of glory. A huge stream of fire, seemingly fashioned from the non-elemental Quintessence that he built-up earlier, shot out from his mouth like a projectile.

"Good lord!" The gasping Marshall exclaimed out, raising up his arms in a defensive cross as the sheer wind that kicked up from the effort shook the table he sat at nearby. "I've never seen that before!"

"What the hell's his plan?!"

Almost as if listening to the yelling Seth's commentary, however, the gasping Link at last re-appeared from his earlier evasion. He grunted in slight injury as he back-dashed from the air in the centre, his right arm slightly burnt and singed from seemingly contact with the stream of fire that Raynard breathed earlier.

The dark-haired mercenary let a satisfied smirk grace his complexion to match the superiority he so enjoyed to feel.

"Remarkable!" The wide-eyed Marshall exclaimed, having recovered from his startling previously. "Seemingly having been unable to locate his enemy... young Raynard chose to flush his opponent out by utilising a wide-spread Aegir Art!"

Seth laughed on uproariously, pointing a finger forward at the singed Link. "BURN!" He yelled out excitedly, earning an appreciative laugh from the audience.

"Pathetic," the watching Raynard shot out with, his grin slowly lowering into his favourite scowl. The frowning-faced Link rose blonde-shaded eyebrow in response, listening on silently and carefully as Raynard's smirk re-grew on his face. "You won't even be able to put a scratch on me."

Link's oceanic eyes widened for the second time and, very slowly, a grin began to re-appear in his expression; a look that suited his disposition well. Raynard's own smirk similarly slowly swung off his face in favour of a miffed frown of his own.

"What the hell's so funny about that?" He spat over, tilting his head in a scowl that demanded an answer.

Link's grin only widened as he re-opened his mouth to respond. "Just this."

–

3

SMACK

"Gurgh...!"

Knocked savagely across the back of his head, Raynard's tree-shaded eyes shot open in shock-faced surprise as he stumbled forward from the sudden impact of the heavy-handed strike he was assaulted with. He could only barely half-turn his head before his assailant followed up their attack by sweeping the ground with a widely-rotating spinning strike, their sweep soon rising up into the air itself, bringing Raynard with them.

The audience erupted into well-needed cheers as the assailant's form was at last revealed and recognised as a second figure of the grinning-faced Link somehow.

Obviously a Multi-Form copy.

In a devastating ten-hit Tatsumaki Senpukyaku technique, Link's clone sent the grunting Raynard spinning and tumbling down to the arena's tiled ground, crashing noisily and agonisingly as he did.

"Bring it on then!" The two blonde clones exclaimed out simultaneously, bringing up their hands to issue out a provoking gesture.

"Outstanding! Having responded to Van Garrick's taunt, young Firbrand somehow prepared a Multi-Form clone nearby during his vanishing spree earlier to sneak attack with!" The smiling-faced Marshall called out, chuckling as he shook his head disbelievingly. "You couldn't make this up!"

"He's fast winnin' the approval here Marsh; check it," the similarly grinning Seth nodded in the cheering audience's direction. "They love him!"

"He should be more careful..."

The half-surprised Zelda and Malon swung their heads 'round to the narrow-eyed Impa in between them, watching the ring firmly and attentively.

"What do you mean, Impa?" Zelda chose to question, light-blonde eyebrow rising up in query.

"He's going to anger that volatile boy," the wise Sheikah answered, her fire-red eyes narrowing in knowing. "And something else will happen..."

The woman's words, though cryptic and unsettling, left the two listening girls exchanging merely a shrug together before turning back to the engagement below them.

"So..."

Raynard's low-voiced tenor voiced out as he, very slowly, stood back up to his feet in a hard-eyed glare. The watching Link and his Multi-Form copy both dropped their grins and affixed another fighting stance, as if to ready themselves for an abrupt assault.

"You like the Multi-Form technique... do you...?"

The black-haired mercenary's words hung up into the air, spoken with a kind of odd softness that the hardened youth simply wasn't known for; Link exchanged another odd look with his clone, unsure, before they turned to watch their opponent move. Raynard's slightly-taller form began to shimmer and, as it did, he gave vent to a ring-roaring yell that shook the foundations of the listening people in the stands. Link watched in genuine surprise as two more forms of Raynard himself, essentially copies as well, rip right out of the boy's figure and stand on either side of the original.

"What a turnaround!" Marshall called out, slamming an excited fist down on the table, his eyes widened. "Van Garrick is outnumbered so what does he do?"

"He calls his homies Marsh; yeah!" The ever rambunctious Seth laughed in next to the man, issuing him with a brotherly hi-five in response.

"Try three of 'em...," Raynard's original began lowly, his low scowl soon upturning into a hateful-faced smirk. "Kokiri rat."

Link's own frown fairly quickly morphed into an angry scowl of his own before he set his emotions aside and took a deep breath, briefly shutting his eyes.

Remember what Impa-sensei taught you, he thought to himself.

"You won't win if you can't fight with your brain. Settle down and think."

Yeah...

Settle down and think.

When he re-opened his eyes, only his left burned with the familiar colour of the deep-blue ocean; his right, on the other hand, was a new colour.

A powerful violet that cut through the illusions that the glaring-faced Raynard attempted to convey.

The watching Impa widened her own fire-shaded eyes in shock, letting loose a similarly startled gasp escape her lips.

"You sense it too... don't you Impa?"

The Sheikah turned her wide-eyed frown 'round on the princess she served sitting next to her before she gulped and spun her silver-shaded head back 'round to the ring below and nodding.

"Yes...," she murmured out, eyes narrowing. "Yes I do."

"Sense what?" Malon asked impatiently from the right, shrugging in a mixture of annoyance and doubt. "I don't get it."

"That Aegir...," the frowning-faced Darunia answered for the women, glaring down at the standing Link's form. "It's a... special kind."

"A kind not felt in at least a thousand years...," the similarly-expressed king Zora nodded on in quiet-toned agreement, holding ever on to his loyal cane. "The 'Eye of Truth'..."

Malon's eyebrows rose up and at last she recognised a subject of conversation; she swung her curious-faced query 'round on the frowning Impa and re-opened her mouth.

"Is it... Link...?" She asked, raising a fire-haired eyebrow of her own. "Does he have this... 'Eye of Truth' thing?"

The Sheikah exchanged one last unsure frown with the princess Zelda before re-facing the farm girl. "I suppose we'll find out."

Almost as if he were listening in on the very conversation behind him, Link's original Multi-Form clone dispersed before he set off forward in an abrupt dash. The smirking-faced Raynard and his two copies merely set their legs apart as they readied for him, fists clenched at their sides. Rather than aim his offence for the centre form, the frowning-faced Link opted instead to shoot straight for the copy on his direct right, surprising not just the watching audience and co-commentators but the gasping Raynard himself.

"Does he know somehow?!"

The boy's horrified thoughts carried him on as he watched the blonde quickly dash into the air toward him; Raynard dropped his smirk and growled as he swung a wide and horizontal roundhouse to catch him in his air-dash. It was only when the blonde's form shimmered, however, that Raynard realised his mistake and widened his eyes in shock-faced regret.

"An after-image!"

The former Hero of Time himself re-appeared directly above the dark-haired youth, yelling out in effort as he dove kick down toward him.

SMACK

"Hrngh...!"

Raynard was sent recoiling off the ring's floor beneath him and, as the frowning Link landed, he swung his body backward in an acrobatic somersaulting back-kick, savagely sending the wide-eyed Raynard soaring and spinning toward the other two Multi-Form clones he commanded.

SMASH-SMASH-SKRRRRR

The scowling boy growled however as he slammed both hands into the ring's tiles, one after the other as he skid rapidly toward the edge in a desperate effort to avoid a ring-out. Sure enough, as his speed quickly began to lessen and he approached the edge, he gained a couple of valuable seconds with which to recover.

Needless to say, the copies that Raynard created also dispersed with Link's brutal counter-attack

"Ridiculous!" The shock-voiced Marshall called out, eyes similarly widened to convey it. "In spite to Van Garrick's seemingly superior use of the Multi-Form technique... Firbrand somehow knows who the original is!"

"Maybe it was just a guess Marsh!" The laughing Seth responded with, leaning back in his chair.

"Perhaps...," the frowning-faced commentator murmured out. "But I'm not so sure..."

The glaring Raynard stood back to his full boots once more and narrowed his tree-shaded eyes to thin slits as he reached toward his chest.

RRRRRRIP

Sure enough, just as within his former match with the super-fast Zoran Alwyn, Raynard directly tore off his very clothing itself; his old and weathered-down brown tunic flew dramatically into the wind, joined also by the tattered cape he liked to wear. All the injuries he sported on his body, bruises and blood and all, all began to slowly vanish from view. Small ancient Hylian kanji-like characters slowly hovered over his half-naked torso, lit up by the shining afternoon daylight that covered the arena.

"I don't know how you did that...," the scowling Raynard began again, chestnut-brown eyes watching the multi-coloured-eyed Link carefully. "But now it's over."

"How do you figure?" Link questioned simply, re-straightening his posture to stand straight as he leant his slim body to the side, frowning back at the hateful-faced youth.

"No-one's survived this," he shot back simply, glaring forward. His eyes re-narrowed as he re-opened his mouth. "No-one," he added in his hardened inflection. "Not even your pathetic little Zoran friend did."

In great spite to his earlier inner monologue to himself, the glaring mercenary's words at last found their foundation within him and successfully provoked him; Link's frown switched to an angry scowl of his own and he dashed forward to assault the raven-haired boy for the remark.

"Hmph...," the watching Raynard huffed out of his throat, turning his own hardened frown up into a satisfied smirk, his Aegir burning a powerful black flame around his figure. "Predictable."

~

As the yelling Link brashly attempted an angry and wide-spread haymaker, the smirking-faced Raynard's form suddenly shimmered and began to flash in and out of itself. Realising he'd been tricked, and so easily at that, the former Hero of Time swung his blonde-haired head 'round and attempted to back-dash to gain valuable distance from his fast-approaching foe.

But it was no use.

The half-naked mercenary pulled his right fist back and, built-up with some kind of water-style Quintessence, he yelled out in effort as he smashed it directly into the gasping blonde's lower chest. Time slowed down for the wide-eyed Link and the contrastingly narrow-eyed Raynard. They remained in their temporary animations for what felt like minutes as the audience around them roared before, finally, the gears of time brought them both back to life; as the newly shut-eyed youth pelted through the air, spinning madly as he did, the narrow-eyed Raynard rose up his attacking arm and grunted as he slammed it into the ring's tiles beneath him.

SMASSSSHHH...

As the bright-white tiles flew skyward from the force of his water-infused strike, a cube of ocean itself somehow shot up from under the ring beneath the mid-flying Link, successfully catching the blonde in what was essentially a prison made specifically for him. Widening his eyes within his jail-cell made of water and liquid, the injured youth attempted to struggle and found his movements extremely limited and hampered.

Whatever this thing's made of I can't even fight, he thought.

"Doesn't help it's my Aegir-affinity's weakness...!"

His angered thoughts carried his hurting morale on as the frowning-faced Raynard slowly sauntered forward; now offered with all the time in the world with which to counter-attack, the dark-haired lad merely walked slowly as if he were taking a simple stroll through the field.

"I wonder what technique this is...?" The watching Marshall wondered out, his baritone echoing from the Gossip Stone he spoke into. "It looks as if young Van Garrick has discovered his opponent's elemental weakness and utilised it against him in a radical cube of water!"

"Yo if we're gonna hold the next tournament in the desert, we're bringin' that kid along," the grinning-faced Seth replied in a childish chuckle. "We could do with a handy supply of water am I right?!"

"Just look at you..."

As Raynard spoke in his hard-eyed glare, scowling and all to match the glower Link shot him back with in his seized form.

"Do you really think your friend stood a chance against me?" He asked out cheekily, eyes narrowing. "Or you, for that matter?"

Unable to respond to his black-haired opponent, his voice and his body having been submerged in Aegir-contrived water, Link merely glared back at him below as his left eye twitched from the rage that threatened to overtake him.

"No...," the hard-faced Raynard shot out with again, this time in a narrow-eyed scowl at the inflection of his follow-up. "No-one can stop me... absolutely...," he began again, re-narrowing his eyes as he rose up his left index finger only; like magic, the water prison that Link resided in gradually found itself lowering to match its master's command. "No-one."

In a flash, and somehow with little charging at all, Raynard's eyes widened at the inflection of his sentence as he shot his lightning-focused left fist forward. Link's oceanic eyes widened within the sea-cubed prison he remained in, his upper-body pierced directly by the loudly-chirping lightning jab that Raynard stuck him with. Already also having been placed within a body of water, the lightning elemental Aegir Art's efficiency was effectively doubled.

"Water conducts electricity folks...," the watching Marshall winced out, shaking his brown-haired head in regret. "That's got to hurt!"

"Come on kid!" Seth appealed forward in a similarly cringing frown of his own. "That's just too much...!"

Sure enough, as the water that held the young Hylian began to dissipate away in its job well-done, only the scowling-faced Raynard's left arm stuck through the wide-eyed Link's right-sided upper-chest was left to watch for the gasping audience. Unable to find the appropriate defence, counter-attack or even words with which to respond, the wide-eyed Link could only remain lifeless in the raven-haired lad's grip, a mass of blood leaking down from his chest.

It was only when he hacked out, and rather loudly and agonisingly at that, that the watching people in the stands fully realised the implications of what had just happened.

"No, Link!" The grimacing-faced Malon exclaimed out, leaning forward in her chair.

"Good goddess...," Darunia gasped out in his own wince of empathy. "Is he dead...?!"

"All that electricity in a body of water...?" King Zora murmured out next to the muscled man on his left before he shook his head dismissively. "I can't see him surviving this one..."

"How can he...?"

The sitting Zelda exchanged another look with the narrow-eyed Impa on her right, curious. Realising the older woman recognised the Aegir Art displayed below them, she merely poked her on her folded-armed side; the Sheikah snapped her silver-shaded head 'round in startled surprise before sighing out in realisation as to who it was. Sensing the princess' silent questions, Impa re-opened her mouth.

"He... shouldn't be able to use that style of attack."

"W-Why?" Malon sniffed out next to her, swinging her long-haired head 'round to face the two. "What's he done to him?!"

"It's... lightning-elemental Aegir I mean," she began slowly with, furrowing her brow as she continued. "There's only one clan in the world that's ever been able to utilise it."

"And what clan is that?" Zelda pressed her curiously, blonde eyebrow risen up as she did.

Impa gave the young girl a quick look and stared for a second or so, almost as if deciding whether or not to divulge the information, before eventually shaking her head in response and returning her attention forward.

"Ready to die...?"

Raynard's hardened hissed whisper made the wide-eyed Link swing his oceanic eyes down on him, horrified for one of the first times in his honest-to-goddess life. It was only when the referee eventually spoke up that the audience regained their lustre, having been sit in silence the whole time.

"The match is over so long as Link Firbrand is unable to battle and gravely injured! Please lower your arm, Raynard Van Garrick!"

–

4

The entire tournament arena's babble and cheers very quickly began to die down and near fall silent; the sound of Raynard's lightning-jab technique chirped away loudly, embedded deeply within the seemingly deceased form of his opponent. The black-haired boy very gradually turned his head to face the referee standing in the centre of the ring behind him, holding his limp opponent up with the sheer strength of his grip.

"Why should I?" He at last answered the man, narrowing his tree-shaded eyes back at him. Even the watching co-commentators exchanged unsure looks, doubtful on even what to say on the matter. "I think...," the boy began again, slowly hovering his raven-haired head 'round to glare up back at the unconscious and bloody form of Link hanging above him. "That it's time I silence this upstart."

"Impa! Do something!"

Malon's worried exclamation only made the watching Sheikah and even the sitting Darunia twitch their scowls in their seats, ready to leap forward.

"I-Impa... you have to..." The wincing Zelda nodded next to her, almost as if to give the Sheikah woman allowance to continue on.

Impa nodded and made ready to leap up off her chair toward the ring. "Yeah."

CRRRRRACK

"ARRRRGH!"

Raynard's agonised scream rent the building well and truly; something that the watching audience could only witness in unsure looks and frowns. As the boy stuck his free right hand up to grip at the fallen Link's neck, somehow, a field of Aegir filled the seemingly deceased blonde's body and sheerly burnt the mercenary's body. As if to add to add to that, when Link's own left hand shot up to grapple at the shock-faced Raynard's own right, the raven-haired mercenary could only look up in surprise only to find his arm being crushed within the abruptly-powerful grip of his enemy.

Eventually he found himself wrenching his arm directly out of Link's injured left side, the two children tumbling down to the ring's tiles below them; one face-down and the other rolling sideways in agony. The watching Impa and Darunia exchanged an unsure look with one another, having just barely stopped themselves from leaping down from their seats only to watch on with great interest.

The audience similarly examined the sight before them, not daring to even utter a word. Almost as if they were watching a horror scene unfold, the brightly-held red-shaded Aegir that surrounded Link's fallen form somehow began to lift his limp figure up to a standing position.

"What in god's name...?"

Marshall's horrified whisper carried the similar fears that the watching Hylians and Aurelians felt, wide-eyed and terrified, as they watched the seemingly deceased blonde boy move like a ghost.

"Rngh..." Raynard grunted out, nursing his injured right hand as he scrambled up to his feet to turn his gasping frown 'round on his newly-standing opponent; the ground, very slowly, began to rumble and he darted his chestnut-brown eyes around himself as if looking for the source of it.

It was only when he felt a blast of fire-style Aegir wind from Link's standing form that he realised it was from him.

"But that's im- H-How...?" He murmured out, taking a step back in a mixture of incredulous shock and growing fear, his body sensing the killing intent coming directly from his enemy's form.

Zelda's sky-blue eyes widened and she swung her blonde-haired head 'round to the watching Impa. "Impa, it's the-!"

"Yeah...," the Sheikah woman nodded gravely, briefly eyeing the princess before re-facing the arena. "It's... the Shinzui..."

"Grnnngh..."

Raynard's legs froze almost as immediately as a new kind of deepened baritone entered Link's normal happy-go-lucky tenor; a demonic filter that made the raven-haired boy furrow his brow back at him in curiosity. Sure enough, somehow the blonde boy's life-threatening injury had curled up into what it once was; bare exposed flesh itself.

How is that possible, Raynard wondered to himself, eyes glaring forward.

And yet there it was, taunting him; a simple tore spot in the boy's karate gi where his lightning-elemental jab once pierced.

"Shin'ozo..."

Raynard's breathing began to heighten, and rapidly at that; he took another step back and glared forward, raising up his fists with which to defend himself.

Link's blonde and fiery-tinted head, covered in blood, shot back up almost as abruptly as he re-opened his fanged mouth with which to speak his final war cry.

"Tomete KURERU!"

~

Demonic Manifestation of the Holy Triforce of Courage  
Kage Narumono

SMASH-DROOOOOM

The watching audience in the stands all screamed in horror as the newly-reinvigorated Kage turned his clawed fist directly down upon the white-shaded ring beneath him, sending tiles and wreckage madly spinning in every-while direction. The force of which, however, managed to create a shock-wave that rapidly travelled along across the ring vertically, easily eating up and destroying anything in its path.

Raynard, realising it was meant for him, widened his brown-shaded eyes and turned to dodge but was simply too slow.

WHAM

"Gurgh...!"

The youth grunted out in scrunched-shut pain as he was sent a tiny fraction into the air from the strike, a noticeable trickle of blood dropping from his chin.

With incredible devil-like speed and agility, the scowling Kage's form glided across the sky, his blonde host's bare feet barely touching the wrecked ring beneath him. When he fast-approached the defenceless Raynard's body he slammed his fire-coated fist directly into the boy's exposed lower stomach.

SLAM

Raynard's eyes shot wide-open and he snapped his black-haired head down to cough violently and excruciatingly. A large amount of blood dropped directly down onto the fanged Kage's face as he stared back up at the shocked and horrified Raynard hanging in the sky above him. Kage followed up his animalistic counter-attack however, by lowering his free right clawed arm to grip at the mercenary's exposed leg before growling in his scowl as he swung Raynard's form over and above his own, obviously aiming to swing him into the ring below them like a simple rag-doll.

"N-No...!" The coughing and gasping Raynard called out, his limbs flailing around in horror. His chestnut-brown eyes widened in further terror as vertigo took hold in the incredible velocity with which Kage tossed him. "NOOOOO-"

CRASSSSHHHHHH

Time slowed down again for the two warriors as Raynard's very body itself was smashed ruthlessly against the once-tiled arena below them; as Raynard himself coughed out another deluge of hot-crimson blood, staining the debris below, Kage's hard-eyed ugly scowl preceded him as always. The black-haired mercenary, his anger growing with his attacker, opted to channel water-style Aegir to his lower boot.

"Grnnnngh-AH!"

As Kage yanked his clawed arm back from the boot, seemingly somehow burned from the contact with the Quintessence, he swung his fiery-tinted head back to find the desperately-gasping Raynard tumbling to his feet and back-dashing to attempted safety.

Needless to say, the demonic will within Link's once human form, took off like a light after him.

"Come on you fucking FREAK!" Raynard cursed out angrily as he skid across the tournament floor, rising up his left opened palm skyward, charging with what seemed to be water-infused Aegir. "Eat through THIS!"

Kage, his pride having been insulted by the youth and having been issued a challenge, grinned his shining fangs widely before leaping upward to descend down upon the youth in a plunging assault.

Raynard smirked in knowing, his victory now having basically been assured; he formed one of his cubic-style water prisons in mid-air directly for the fast-descending form of his enemy.

Now it's only a matter of time, he thought superiorly.

As Kage began to approach the water-style prison he widened his demonically-reddened eyes before pulling his head back and lowering it in his fast-descent.

ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR

Raynard's smirk fell from his face almost as quickly as he put it on; his morale fell to match it when he watched Kage merely scream the prison away somehow.

A testament to the satanic power that slept within him.

SMMMMASSSSSHHHHH

The poor Raynard couldn't even utter an agonised grunt as Kage's clawed fist brutally clashed with his face; gripping it as he smashed it down into the wreckage below, he began to close the distance with the ring's edge before rushing forward, dragging the youth's small body across the ground barbarously.

SKRRRRRRR

"RRRRAAAAAGH!"

WHOOSH

The heavily-bleeding Raynard's scowling and scrunched-shut face preceded him as he was chucked barbarically into one of the audience stands behind him; it was merely sheer luck that the men and women littering it chose to move out of the way, and barely in time to match. They watched in horrified, widened eyes as the grunting Raynard crashed horrifically with the stand itself, drawing up smoke and debris in his wake.

RRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR

The watching crowd of people swung their heads 'round to find the standing Kage turning his demonic head skyward to scream, his clawed arms set to his sides; an animalistic bellow of pride and arrogance at one's victory, often seen within lions and tigers.

DROOOOOOM

The men and women surrounding the blast area called out in sudden distress as the smoke around the area suddenly erupted into another explosion; Kage swung his demonic head down from his earlier bellow to widen his hellish-red eyes forward only to find a small arm toss forward what seemed to be a projectile from the smoke cloud. The audience watched on in amazement as Raynard, somehow fighting fit from his earth-shattering injury earlier, threw forward one of the audience's very seating stands as a projectile.

"Grnnngh...!"

SLAP-SKRRRRRRR

Kage's eyes widened a second time as he slammed his clawed palms together on the long hardwood that flew directly for him, stopping it dead in its tracks; the sheer force of which it was tossed, however, caused the devil to skid backward almost all the way back to the competitor's box behind him. He snapped his crimson-bodied eyes 'round in swift search for the half-naked boy only to widen them a third time when he caught him using the audience stand he tossed as a platform; even in his heightened state of senses, Kage was unable to react in time to the quick boy's movements.

Raynard, utilising the sneak attack as effectively as he was able to, shot forward in a diving mountain-raze like upward kick. Kage grunted out in light surprise and, though the assault itself wasn't enough to damage him, the shock of which managed to make him lose control of his grip on the audience stand in his hand. As a result, he crashed noisily and brutally within the tournament walls behind him. Prima's staff members and even the gasping Barkner himself all hid within the back to avoid the inevitable wreckage that fell upon Kage's demonic form.

Raynard grunted as he back-flipped to safety within the ring, raising up his left opened palm to the air, almost as if he were readying a technique. Sure enough, the debris that Kage was left in exploded and noisily at that; the watching audience all let out calls of distress once more as a rumble hit them from the sheer force with which Kage woke from his angered slumber.

"What the hell is goin' on over there Marsh?!" Seth called out, raising up his arms to block the artificial wind that blew from the ferocity of the two fighters. "Shouldn't we put a stop to this?!"

"I don't-" Marshall gasped out, arms similarly rose up in his level-best to stand his ground. "I don't think there's anyone here who can Seth!"

"The old man was right...," the glaring-faced Raynard murmured out, his chestnut-brown eyes narrowed forward at the exploded debris and wreckage before him. A spark of electricity kindled directly in his raised-up hand, leaving a portent of what was to come. "Whatever's in you makes you a damn freak of nature...," he continued on quietly, almost as if more to himself than to anyone listening in. "Here... HAVE IT!"

KERRRRASSSSHHHH-DROOOM

The sound of a sheer lightning storm itself plummeted down upon the ring and arena, directly aimed toward the wreckage where Kage once lay. The sitting crowd of people all yelled and cried out, barely able to hold to their seats as they watched the savagery unfold before them. Raynard's raven-shaded eyebrows shot up in gasping-faced shock however when he felt his left arm's vertical strike stop short just a little.

He can't have grabbed it surely, he thought.

As the smoke cloud around the rubble died out Raynard got a good look at the new liquid-like aura of Aegir that encircled Kage's form; as the long pole of lightning that Raynard sent crashing down toward him, Kage merely utilised one of his fiery-tinted and extremely dense-looking arms of Aegir to block it.

Raynard could hardly believe his tree-shaded eyes; he opened his mouth to voice his shock, unable to react to what was to come next. "What the FUCK?!"

Sure enough the animalistic Kage growled as he outstretched his free right arm forward and, in reaction, another densely-shaded arm of Quintessence itself flew directly for him. Raynard watched it with deer-like widened eyes, unable to move from utilising his earlier pinning technique. Perhaps inevitably, the Aegir-Arm easily grappled at his small body and yanked him in.

SSSSSSS...

The lightning on Raynard's left arm dissipated almost immediately as he was pulled in, his arms essentially deadlocked at his sides. He turned his raven-haired head skyward and screamed in a mixture of heightened adrenaline as well as horror, as the horribly-scowling Kage eventually dragged him in, pulling his now free left clawed fist to counter-attack with.

CRRRRACK-SMASH

"Kurgh...!"

Raynard's body knocked viciously and tortuously against the ring's broken tiles and floor, the velocity and speed of which sent his bloodied and bruised form spinning skyward perfectly toward the centre. Kage immediately gave chase, widened hellish-red eyes watching his form so intently it almost gave him tunnel vision; as he ran against the ring below him, destroying what remained of any tiles the poor staff members had to replace from the last battle before them, he leapt up into the air acrobatically and roared with effort as he brought up both conjoined arms to finish his assault with.

Sure enough however, even as the dense-looking fire-coated Aegir that covered his arms and the rest of his body filled his assault, so too did the falling Raynard's body surprise him; as he swung his fists down to finish with, his body began to shimmer lightly. Kage, of course, voiced his surprise angrily.

"Nanda-ko...?!"

A simple after-image.

"HNGH!"

Kage swung his wide-eyed head 'round only to gasp as the re-appearing Raynard widened his own eyes in his counter-assault; he swung a water-infused haymaker directly into the possessed blonde's face, sending him spinning and careering diagonally toward the arena.

CRRRASSSHHH...

Raynard gasped out intensely as he landed onto the ringed ground beneath him, watching as Kage inevitably recovered in spite of the incredible strength he put into his attack. He couldn't help but spike up a half-amused grin on his bloodied face, as he watched the raging-faced Kage savagely tear up the ring's underground with his claws in his attempt to keep himself from falling out of bounds.

Even in spite of the absurd take that this battle had gone in, this was still a national championship match to win and somehow in great spite to his possession to Kage, Link still understood that.

"There's no question... that you're strong...," Raynard cursed forward in a hardened narrow of his eyes mid-gasping breath. He wiped away at the blood that gathered on his mouth as he stood back to his ruined clothed feet once more; as he did, the kanji-like characters that surrounded his half-naked body began to intensify their range around him, as if an indication of a raise in strength. "But I'm still stronger than you are...," he began again, this time in a chuckling smirk. "Link..."

As the glaring-faced Kage reared his host's two human hands to his sides, palms opened up, he utilised his Aegir-Arms to hover forward before him to begin rapidly channelling Quintessence. Sure enough, even in the Hylian host's hands themselves, he added a spice of fire-coated Aegir to what seemed to be an non-elemental sphere of destruction.

Raynard responded by outstretching a single arm of his own forward and channelling his own sphere, this one water-shaded in nature.

The audience watched on in baited breath and widened eyes a they witnessed what appeared to be the end of the turbulent grand-finals.

"I'm not quite sure what's happening...!" The gasping Marshall called out, his arms risen up a second time to block the incredible rumbles and wind that near threatened to knock him off his chair. "But it looks like we're finally hitting the end of this...!"

Seth laughed out, in great spite to their worrying situation. "It's like watchin' two monsters tear at each other Marsh!"

"Impa they're going to blow the arena up!" Zelda called out above the din of the incredible battle before them, wincing alongside the rest of the yelling crowd around her.

"She's right!" Darunia cried out in nodding agreement, one eye shut from the effort of blocking the razor-like winds that permeated around them. "We have to do something!"

The Sheikah woman nodded, slapping her palms together before slamming one down on the ground below her. "On it!"

At last the two behemoths were ready; as the otherworldly sounds of their techniques gave out respective sparks of fire and splashes of water, the two grand-finalists finally gave chase to one another, all to meet in the middle. As Raynard merely sprinted toward him, kicking up tiles and wreckage in his wake, the similarly scowling-faced Kage glided forward in a comparable rush that further wrecked the weeping arena beneath him.

Raynard widened his chestnut-brown eyes as he pulled back his sphere of water to attack with, scowling horribly in his bloodied face as he did. "DIIIIEEEE!"

Kage re-opened his own fanged mouth to scream his own response, utilising his Aegir-Arms to send forth his sparkling ball of hellfire. "KESHITOBEE!"

KERRRRRRRRRASSSSSSHHHH-DROOOOOOOOM

FRRRRRRRRRRRRRR-KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

An incredible near godlike aura of Aegir, deep-sea blue and hellish-red fire encased the two respectively as they inevitably clashed their techniques with one another; one final ditch gambit to win the similarly explosive grand-finals with. The ring and everything within its radius were blown apart with such force that caused shock-waves to resonate across as far as Hyrule Castletown and Hyrule Field itself.

A true testament to the two gargantuan powers that the Hylian boys' displayed together.

–

5

Impa gasped out in great effort, barely able to catch her breath as she stood back up from the hardwood stand below her, pulling her palms up from it as she did. Sure enough, she and everyone within the seating stands themselves including the co-commentators were protected by what seemed to be a translucent shield of Aegir, further reinforced by the earthen-style Aegir that the hard-eyed Darunia possessed.

"It must have taken a lot of power to protect three sides of so many people like that...," the shock-faced Malon murmured out from her seat, turning her fire-haired head up to the gasping Sheikah next to her. "Thank you Impa... thank you so much." The little farm girl nodded in gratefulness, realising just how close to death she and the other watchers had truly come. The sweaty-faced Sheikah swung her silver-shaded head 'round and shook it in response.

"It took all my Aegir just to do that...," she gasped out in effort, turning her glare back on the contained explosion within the arena itself. "I never thought I'd see this happen so soon... let alone at all."

Zelda winced as she listened, turning her own frown on the scene below her as she mused on first meeting the boy.

She vaguely remembered informing him on the doubts and fears of the Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai; the chaotic Aegir that attached itself to the holy Triforce. She kept her breathing steady and her posture fairly suiting in a setting that would shock anyone else, sky-blue eyes narrowed down below her as her silent thoughts carried her on.

"Please be all right, Link."

"Somehow we're all still alive!" The gasping Marshall cried out from his side in the ring-out portion of the tournament walls, wincing from the huge amount of artificial wind that the bout managed to kick up. "And can you believe that they've still both played to the rulebooks?!"

"I don't know what to do here Marsh!" The younger man called out in similar surprise, 'rounding his curious-faced frown on the older man next to him. "I mean, has this ever happened before?"

"That's just it, Seth; it hasn't!" He shot back, shaking his brown-haired head in response. "Maybe we'll get some form of clue when the smoke clears..." He finished in a thoughtful-eyed murmur, eyes narrowing forward.

Almost as if the battle itself were listening in, sure enough the cloud of dust and fume exhausted itself out and only mere wreckage was left behind. Impa double-took her widened red eyes to her right in the competitor's box direction, suddenly remembering that Barkner and the referee were both residing within.

Oh no, she thought.

Her inward fears were allayed however when she spied what looked like one big mound of rock and stone risen up in defence.

A classic Goron technique.

"I'd expect nothing less from him." The watching Darunia smiled and nodded on in approval.

The rest of the arena's eyes, however, were drawn completely to the fight itself or what remained of it; the gasping pair of boys remained alive somehow, barely able to stand and badly-burned with bloody injuries all over. Even the wincing Link's form seemed to be at last returned to normal; indeed, his familiar oceanic-shaded eyes had regained their old human and Hylian colour, indicating he had somehow locked away Kage by himself.

"Impa, look!"

The Sheikah nodded in recognition, frowning on as she did. "I see it." She answered the wide-eyed Zelda.

Impressive, she thought.

"But how did he do it, I wonder."

As Barkner's wall of earth shattered, perhaps from overuse of Aegir, he dropped to his rear and gasped from within; completely exhausted. The wincing referee standing with him turned to issue him a hand as if to stand but the Goron resolutely shook his head, pointing his head and his free hand forward, almost as if to tell the man to continue with his job.

Shocked, the staff member exchanged a look with the commentators on his right. He received mere similar frowning shrugs.

Oh well, the man thought.

Time to go to work.

"Sudden death!" He cried out, rising up his left hand into the sky above him, frowning on as he did.

In great spite to their earlier screaming and worrying, the audience all cried out in morale-raising cheers.

"We were about to die," the annoyed Malon called out, frowning in disapproval. "What's wrong with these people?"

"I imagine this shield of Aegir has alleviated most of these peoples' concerns...," the watching king Zora murmured out in a sighing frown. "It's certainly saved mine..." He whispered out in finishing.

"I guess it makes this whole thing look like a setup from the very beginning...!" Darunia exclaimed out, swinging his rocky-haired head to the sky in booming laughter.

Zelda couldn't help but smile in spite of their earlier situation; the man was right when she thought about it.

Chances are these people probably thought that the organisation arranged all this and the fight wasn't real.

If only they knew.

"I've never seen a sudden death!" The wide-eyed Seth called out, his excitement regained as he clenched a fist to display it. "What happens in that Marsh?"

"I wouldn't expect you to," Marshall chuckled on in a light knowledgeable grin, his eyes briefly shut before he turned his head to face the younger man. "The last time we had a sudden death occur was at least ten years ago; that's another record broken!"

"So come on Marsh!" The excited Seth exclaimed, grinning on as he usually did. "What happens in a sudden death?!" He demanded.

"In a sudden death event... both competitors' feet must remain standing at all times," the man explained briefly as he re-rose his index finger into the air. "The first fighter to drop to their knees in defeat... loses!"

"Oh my good goddess this is hella-hype!" The young man called out, drawing similar cheers from the entertained audience. "My money's on that Firbrand kid! He's too much of a monster man!"

"I guess we'll find out..." Marshall chuckled on, setting his hands to rest on the table below him as he returned attention to the battle.

At last returned to normal, the weakened Link reaped the sowing that his devil-like alter-ego committed; his karate gi was near-completely torn, leaving only his lower portion clothed. His small muscled body was similarly racked with bloodied bruises and other burn marks from their earlier clash; something that left him barely standing.

Raynard was in a similar sorry state; having tossed his top portion of his tunic away earlier only his ripped and torn trousers remained on his legs. Even his boots had managed to burn up in the excess burning and the explosion that the two endured.

The fact that they were both still alive was a miracle in and of itself.

"H-How..."

Link swung his bloody-faced eyes up in half-surprise to find his opponent glaring back at him, finding him gripping his injured and seemingly broken right arm.

"How the h-hell did you...," he grunted out, wincing continually as he struggled to stay standing. "Do all that...?!"

Link laughed back shakily, an eye half-shut from the sheer agony he suffered. "Sh-Shouldn't you be a-asking... how I...," he managed out in a cringing wince of his own. "How I changed back?" He finished out in a laugh of his own. Raynard's chestnut-brown eyes widened in realisation.

Sure enough, the young Van Garrick thought.

He's not that freak anymore.

So what the hell happened?

"Only the old man can tell me..."

Even as the glaring-expressed Raynard finished his silent inward thoughts, the gasping-voiced cough that Link suddenly exuded made him snap his eyes back to reality.

Blood dropped from his mouth to stain the wreckage beneath him and, at last, one of them caved; the blonde-haired Hylian grunted from sheer lack of oxygen and mass-exhaustion before rolling his eyes to the back of his head and dropping to his knees, before finally falling to the ring's broken floor below face-up, oceanic eyes shut.

Raynard could hardly believe his eyes; they remained widened and it was sheerly his shock that kept him able to stand.

"Link Firbrand is unconscious! The winner of this set and of the Hylian Hyrax... is Raynard Van Garrick!"


	8. Meaties; Recuperating and a Lesson

Chapter 8: Meaties; Recuperating and a Lesson  
Path to Palashia's Premier Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst The World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Tranquil Silence" - YS IX: Monstrum Nox OST. Scene 1 (First & Second Halves).  
"Hyrule Castle" - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap OST. Scene 2 (First Half).  
"Faron Woods" - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword OST. Scene 3 (First & Second Halves).  
"Forgotten Waterfall" - Street Fighter V (Vanilla) OST. Scene 4 (First & Second Half).  
"Resurrection Ceremony"; Scaverin's Theme (B) - YS IV: Memories of Celceta OST. Scene 5.

\--

In an incredible conclusion to a match-up made for destiny itself, the Hylian Hyrax and essentially the national championship for Hyrule itself comes to a close with one winner among the final top eight qualifying martial artists.

Raynard Van Garrick.

Although Barkner Elbrus was set to duel with the block 'B' contestant Link, the Goron companion offered his position in the grand-finals to the grateful Hylian as a way to avenge Alwyn Weirson's earlier loss; a testament to their growing friendship. Their battle begins fair but quick; Raynard's initial overpowering defence and offence swiftly become a problem for Link and he turns to utilising the Multi-Form technique to take him off balance.

It is only then, however, that when Raynard chooses to utilise the same technique to a higher degree it is Link that surprises Raynard; the young blonde applies the same technique he had somehow learned from his battle across time in the ruined timeline in which he came from.

The old Sheikah legend itself; the 'Eye of Truth'.

In using the violet-shaded eye he has been gifted with, Link easily locates and beats the devil out of the weakened Raynard, forcing him up against the ropes to respond similarly. The dark-haired mercenary opts to rely on the same output of ungodly Aegir he used in his match with Alwyn, however, and tables turn yet again; his battle power increase is so potent that he finishes the match by threatening the blonde's life with a lightning technique.

Something that the curiously-watching Impa notes down.

It is then, when Link's life is in grave danger, that the chaotic Aegir resting within his body – and the holy Triforce of Courage itself – reawakens; the 'Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai'. Said to be a Quintessence of near godlike power, the Shinzui hosts the devil-like incarnation 'Kage Narumono' within the living host body known as 'Link'. Loosely translated as 'Essence of the Triforce', it is just that; the unholy chaotic Aegir that Kage takes his satanic powers from all stem from the same source that king Ganondorf and princess Zelda's once did from the time he came from.

In their second run-through, Kage and Raynard batter one another near lifeless and senseless; a shocking display of savagery and animalistic ruthlessness that leaves the watching audience horrified and shocked.

But unwilling and, more importantly, unable to do anything about it.

At last, however, the two monsters come to an end to their brutal battle with one another in an incredible explosive clash of water and fire techniques, that leave only the watching Impa and Darunia able to protect the audience via a massively translucent shield of Quintessence and Aegir. When the smoke eventually clears only two very human and Hylian boys are left standing; one raven-haired and one blonde.

Only one can win however.

When ready to question Raynard one last time on the suspicious circumstances regarding the Aegir he carries within him, Link at last loses consciousness, the effort required to stave Kage at bay and remain standing simply too difficult. And, with that, Raynard Van Garrick is proclaimed the Hylian Hyrax's next national champion.

Having been tended to, almost immediately after their match, the two boys are taken to the medical wing of Hyrule Castle itself; something the unconscious Link is barely aware of as he is carted away alongside his older opponent. Now, however, with second place secured Link has gained more than enough championship points to qualify for the next national championship, all the way in Palashia's rolling green hills.

If only he could get out of the hospital first...

\--

Scene 1

"... ready for this?"

"I'm not sure myself..."

"Hold on. He's wakening up."

Link groaned, wincing as he rose up his left arm to rub the back of his injured head softly. As he re-opened his sky-blue eyes forward the blurry shapes before him revealed themselves to him; five people all stood 'round about his form as he re-awoken from his seeming slumber in a bed. The folded-armed Impa remained close-by, ever watchful, joined by her smiling-faced princess Zelda, her hands conjoined at her centre in her usual gesture.

Standing next to them was the frowning-faced Malon, hands joined behind her ever-recognisable white-shaded dress. The similarly folded-armed Alwyn, however surprisingly, stood at the other end of the bed, smiling on rarely as he nodded forward in greeting. The ever-grinning Barkner issued the youth a nod of his own, rocky-bodied arms resting at his hips.

Where the hell am I, he wondered.

This must be the medical ward of Hyrule Castle.

So where's Raynard...?

"A-Alwyn...," the gasping Link winced out, right eye shut from the light pain he felt at his side, still feeling the after-effects of his intense battle with Raynard. "How ya feelin'?"

"Better than you probably think," the Zoran soldier smiled back at him. "More importantly, how are you doing?" The man turned the question on its side, nodding it back to the young blonde.

"I'm doin' okay...," the youth shot back in a morale-raising grin; the ever recognisable expression he was known for. "W-What about the battle? Who won?"

"I'm... sorry Link," Impa spoke up in her apologetic frown, drawing the youth's surprised blink. She shook her silvery-shaded head at him in disfavour. "You collapsed first during the sudden death. Raynard won."

The reality hit him like a ton of bricks; the wide-eyed blonde held back a gasp before shutting his eyes in a half-embarrassed smirk, shaking his own head in response.

"And after all that trash talk, huh..." He chuckled regretfully.

"I wasn't there to see it... but... I hear you really made him work for it," Alwyn spoke up, making the blinking boy swing his head back up to frown over at the Zoran. He nodded forward in approval, his sociable smile still resting on his face. "If no-one else is... I'm proud of you."

Link's embarrassed frown switched almost immediately to a shocked and softened one as the words registered within him.

Coming from a hardened soldier like Alwyn, that genuinely meant a lot.

"You damn right he is and I am too," the grinning-faced Barkner nodded on in jovial agreement with the taller, slimmer man. He reached forward and chuckled sociably as he reached a large open palm forward, obviously to be shaken; Link chortled similarly as he acquiesced to the man's brotherly request. "You may have lost the championship... but you won that battle...!" He whispered out, nodding a second time as he leaned his head forward, single eye shut as he did.

In spite to the small dampener that the news reached on his soul, Link couldn't help but laugh softly through his nose as he lowered his head in response, eyes of his own briefly shut as he pulled himself back to rest on his pillow behind him.

"I thought you done extraordinarily well," Zelda spoke up softly from her side next to the tall Sheikah. "Even sirs Marshall and Seth commented on it; you managed to set records within the Prima World Tour itself," the little princess smiled on, drawing his half-surprised frown in her direction. She chuckled in her own beam as she finished the sentence she was replaying in her own head. "I'd say I was fairly impressed with you."

Feeding his ego, Link inevitably cast a smirk over toward her and shrugged his small shoulders in response, oceanic eyes shut as he did. "What can I say?" He tossed over. "I know ya like what ya see baby but you gotta remember I'm vulnerable to compliments!" He grinned on in a cavalier-like mood, his very mood beginning to lift the spirits of the fairly drab room. Barkner pulled his rocky-bodied head back and laughed uproariously while the smiling Alwyn shook his injured head-fin in half-disappointment, half-amusement.

Impa sighed in a disapproving frown of her own however; clearly not amused by the careless display. Zelda next to her held back a giggle of her own, lowering her blonde-haired head a little as she rose up her right index finger to rest over her mouth.

"Urgh... I take back everything I was thinking about you."

Link swung his half-surprised frown up to blink at the folded-armed Malon scowling over at him from his top-right.

"How dare you overdo it out there like that!" The fire-haired youth exclaimed, her cheeks adorning a similarly angry shade to them as she reached forward to bash at his legs hidden within the duvet he rested under; Link laughed out in half-surprise as he yanked back his legs to avoid her wrath. "And what in the name even was that?! Even the staff didn't know whether to disqualify you or not for that devil thing!"

The frowning-faced Impa exchanged a silent look with the similarly-expressed Zelda, nodding together almost as if they were waiting to broach the subject that Malon had just brought up.

"Link..."

The abrasive young Hylian hovered his blonde-haired head 'round to face the Sheikah, rising up a curious-faced eyebrow as he did.

"We want to talk about... what happened within that arena," she began lightly in her soft but demanding contralto. Link's grin soon faded when he realised what she was talking about. "I'd rather we talk about it... alone if poss-"

"No."

The Sheikah rose her silver-shaded eyebrows in light concern, drawing another response from the head-shaking youth. He cast her a confident-faced smile as he rose up his left knee and rested his left arm across it, his opened palm hanging limp overhead.

"I trust Barkner and Alwyn with my life, let alone anything stupid about the Shinzui," he chuckled on sociably. Realising he left the annoyed Malon out he cast her a side-glance before smirking on. "Oh and Malon too I guess."

Barkner let loose another boisterous laugh, eliciting a head-shaking grin from the listening Alwyn.

Impa exchanged one last look with the smiling and nodding Zelda before she similarly nodded and turned back to face him. "All right...," she began, tilting her head. "So... how far has it progressed?"

~

When he explained the details to his mentor and benefactor, Impa and Zelda respectively, he inevitably received concerned questions and queries from the listening Barkner, Alwyn and Malon.

All of which he answered in his usual audacious manner.

"So- wait a minute... what is it you call this thing again?" Barkner asked, eyebrow risen up as he turned his head between each member.

"Its traditional name is the 'Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai'," the frowning-faced Zelda explained on for the grinning-faced Link, her hands ever joined at her centre. "In ancient Hylian; 'Essence of the Triforce'."

"The... Triforce...?" Malon murmured out next to the young girl, auburn eyebrow shooting up in concern. "Not the same one in the old stories dad used to tell me?"

Impa nodded on as she faced the girl on her lower-right. "The very same." She answered.

"Incredible...," the listening Alwyn reacted, shaking his head lightly in his shut-eyed frown. "To think the stories were true..."

"Somethin' definitely true about it," Barkner nodded alongside the Zoran next to him. "I mean how else do you explain all that Aegir? Damn thing near killed all of us."

Link chuckled nervously, sky-blue eyes wandering away in embarrassment. "Y-Yeah... sorry about that..."

"W-Well... what about that Raynard kid then?" Malon pressed the group, her own concern growing. "I mean we all saw those weird techniques he used didn't we?"

"We're not sure," Link at last answered her, frowning back as he shook his head in her direction. "I asked him but..."

"He's not very friendly I imagine...," Impa murmured out knowingly, tilting her head as she shut her ruby-red eyes. "Would make sense after all."

"You realise that this would all mean that you're connected to the holy Triforce itself."

Realising the words came from the recognisable and authoritative baritone that Alwyn commanded left the wide-eyed Link swinging his head surprised in his direction; he chuckled nervously a second time and re-opened his own mouth.

"P-Pretty much... yeah." He shot back.

"Can we see proof...?" The Zoran questioned back, eyebrow rising up again. Silence descended upon the group and the frowning-faced Link revolved his head 'round to face his mentor, almost as if for approval. She shut her eyes and nodded, leaving him to curve his head back and rise up the back of his left hand.

Sure enough, just as when he displayed his proof to Zelda and her father Daphnes, the proof of the holy mark shone in glorious gold on the back of his left fist.

Barkner whistled out, both eyebrows risen up in shock. "Thar's a beauty...!"

"No wonder you were able to progress through the rounds so quickly...," Alwyn murmured out, pulling his head back. "Powers of the Triforce of Courage itself."

Link rolled his oceanic eyes in a sociable but half-insulted grin. "Not all my strength comes from Kage y'know." He shot back.

Alwyn tilted his head in curiosity, drawing a similar look from everyone else in the room.

Whoops, he thought.

"And what, or who, is this Kage?" Alwyn further queried, curious.

"He's-" The boy began, an unsure sigh dotting his frown as he stopped mid-sentence to ponder his thoughts. "It's what's inside that thing," he further explained, using his free right index finger to point at the back of his shining left-fist. "He's probably what you all saw toward the end of that fight." He murmured out, none too proud.

The hearkening Alwyn and Barkner exchanged a look; the Zoran merely stared while the Goron shook his head and shrugged in response.

"The lives of those people in that arena were in danger," Alwyn began again authoritatively, frowning on as he did. "You realise that, don't you?"

Link winced, nodding in response. "I know...," he claimed embarrassedly, rubbing the back of his pony-tailed head as he did. "I thought I could have won that fight without... y'know... relying on his powers."

"But it's not your fault."

The group all swung their heads in the soft soprano belonging to the smiling princess Zelda herself; she stepped past the surprised-faced Impa to approach the blinking Link. She reached her hands forward to grasp at his exposed right, taking the youth by light surprise.

"After all... Raynard did gravely wound you during the battle... didn't he?" She spoke soothingly, running her thumb across the front of his back-hand.

The former Kokiri cringed in complete embarrassment; realising that the entire room's eyes were on them both, he merely gulped down a load of nervous saliva and nodded awkwardly, frowning on as he did.

Zelda smiled back in response, drawing an amused chuckle out of the watching Barkner and Alwyn. Impa, of course, rolled her eyes as she watched.

"The folly of youth..." The Sheikah murmured out.

Malon, however, was less than amused; she stamped her feet and scowled.

"You shouldn't be touching him while he's still resting like that!" She demanded angrily. The listening Barkner snorted quietly as he watched, thoroughly amused, as the half-smiling Alwyn exchanged looks between them all. Zelda's sociable smile remained on her face as she drew her hands away from his, briefly exchanging eye contact with him before she turned back to face the angry youth.

"Of course." She nodded in a mixture of respect and understanding. Although the rather demanding farm girl's demands were being met, she re-folded her small arms and swung her head away from the group.

"Hmph!"

Barkner grinned on in knowing as he edged an elbow in the similarly low-grinning Link's direction.

Yeah all right, I get it, he thought roguishly.

"I must tell you master Van Garrick that your behaviour is appalling and-"

"Get the hell out of my way."

The group, surprised at the interruption, all swung their heads 'round to the entrance only to find the newly-clothed Raynard himself pushing past a gasping servant of the castle to enter the medical bay. He revolved his chestnut-brown eyes in swift search before double-taking in their direction and marching on toward them.

"This is a surprise...," Barkner murmured next to the similarly-faced Zoran on his right. "The hell does he want?"

Before the frowning-faced Alwyn could respond, however, the curious-expressed Link tilted his head up from his low position to get a better look around them.

"Ray?" He called forward, raising his tenor so it would pass through. "That you?"

As half-expected, the unsociable black-haired mercenary opted not to respond vocally; he stepped forward to join the group of five now going on six, exchanging his hardened scowl with each and every one in his folded-armed frown, before eventually settling back on the watching Link ahead of him. His formerly brown-shaded tunic, having been torn in the previous battle, was replaced instead by a newer black-coloured one to be joined by his old scarf and cape.

"Yeah...," the black-haired boy at last answered, his tree-shaded eyes narrowing in half-suspicion. "How are you feeling?"

Link's half-curious frown slowly upturned into an amused grin when he realised the stoic boy's seeming purpose for walking all the way down to the medical bay.

Did he come all this way down here just to check on me, he wondered silently.

"He did as well."

His confident-faced grin carried him on as he re-opened his mouth to voice his thoughts.

"Yeah...," he answered the youth respectfully, nodding in response. "Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?" He asked, raising up another blonde-shaded eyebrow in curiosity, batting the query back. Raynard snorted, shaking his head perhaps awkwardly.

"Of course I'm fine..." He muttered out, perhaps embarrassed.

Link couldn't help but let his grin permeate on, resting his left hand over his raised left knee as it rested under the comfortable duvet beneath him.

"I um..."

The group all watched on in curiosity as Raynard lowered his head before he soon realised all eyes were on him; when he shot his scowling face up to exchange looks with each member they all got the hint and turned their eyes away from his hateful-faced gaze.

Link held back an amused chortle.

"I wanted to... apologise...," the raven-haired boy began again, sighing through his speech as he re-opened his eyes. "Not just to you, but to you," he spoke, turning his scowl on the frowning-faced Alwyn on his left. "Any martial artist worth his salt has to be respectful... and I spit on that respect."

Alwyn exchanged a surprising frown with the grinning and nodding Link before re-facing him. "It's... no problem to me," the Zoran claimed in his own folded-armed frown. "You were the better fighter, after all."

Raynard swung his scowl on the grinning Link; realising he was looking for an answer, the former Kokiri chuckled and nodded similarly.

"Yeah... it's all good Ray," he shot back in his well-natured nod, chortling on in amusement. "I was wrong," he said, swinging his smirk into a sociable smile. "You beat me fair and square."

The listening Raynard huffed through his nose, almost as if he had just gone through a horrifying ordeal. He turned his opened right hand up toward the surprised Alwyn, obviously offering a handshake for their duel earlier. Alwyn obliged in a similarly respectful nod to suit his militaristic nature before the black-haired boy turned and stepped forward to issue the same hand in Link's direction.

The blonde-haired boy reached forward and shook his rival's hand affectionately, nodding toward him and this time it was Raynard that nodded back in his hardened scowl.

A gesture of respect.

Raynard cleared his throat awkwardly as he pulled his hand back from the exchange, wincing lightly as if not used to the sociability. He turned to leave before exchanging one last look with the grinning-faced Link.

"How about a rematch sometime?"

The raven-haired boy double-took in the Hylian's direction, curious.

"Fair and square! No devil Aegir involved!" Link offered forward in a comedic grin.

Raynard furrowed his brow back at the blonde boy, almost as if he were looking whether he was insulting him or not, before eventually realising the jovial atmosphere; he chuckled lowly and rose up his right fingers to lightly brush his spiked fringe of black hair, eyes shut.

"Think I'll pass."

The listening Link couldn't help but let out an amused grin of his own, his own morale rising up to match the odd touch of friendliness within the black-haired boy. Even as he turned to leave, the watching group all exchanged similarly surprised frowns together.

"I guess you're right Link," the unsure-faced Malon began lightly, fire-haired eyebrow rising up as she watched the loner march away toward the stone staircase ahead of him. "I guess he isn't that bad after all."

"Seems like a nice enough kid when you look at him from a distance, huh Al?" Barkner quipped over in his lightly-sociable grin, drawing a shut-eyed chuckle from the folded-armed Zoran next to him.

"We know for a fact he was working with Aegir he shouldn't have, however," Impa spoke up in her own informative frown. "We'll have to get some information out of him... if we can..." The Sheikah stated wisely, ruby-red eyes narrowing in the disappearing boy's direction.

"I bet I'll get somethin' out of him," the grinning-faced Link shot in with, still in his casual-sitting state. "Eventually!" He chuckled back in his happy-go-lucky toothy grin, eyes briefly shut.

"I don't doubt it!" Barkner laughed on alongside the youth infectiously.

Realising there was one final question to be asked that everyone in the room was thinking, Impa exchanged one last look with the nodding Zelda before turning back to face the grinning Hylian boy.

"So...," she began, drawing his unsure blinking-faced frown her way. "What's your plans now that you've achieved second place in the Hylian championship?" The Sheikah asked curiously, rising up a silver-shaded eyebrow as she did. "Second place nets you a considerable Rupee win as well as a trophy."

"I was wonderin' if I got one...," the grinning Link nodded. "Awesome!"

"As well as championship points..."

His mentor's words surprised even him this time; the former Kokiri blinked back in response, soon realising her intent in conversation. She tilted her head at him.

"What's your intentions now with a five-hundred point start in the Prima World Tour?" She asked curiously. Link's grin returned to his young countenance, gracing his complexion into the look they all knew him so fondly for.

"What do ya think?" He batted back, rising up his own blonde-shaded eyebrow in response. "I'm gonna finally leave this one-horse country and go be world champion!"

–

2

"Thank you, dearly, from everyone in the royal family my boy."

Daphnes' voice was as the smiling Link remembered; fatherly, doting and with just a touch of firmness.

"Get up... come on," the old man chuckled well-naturedly, gesturing the boy to rise from his knelt state. "There's no need to stand on ceremony with me now; not after saving this country twice."

It felt good to have not only been taken seriously by the man that once denied Zelda's premonitions, but to receive such concern and care from him at that as well.

He was a better father to his daughter than he probably realised, the boy thought to himself as he stood to his booted feet.

"Here you are, my son, just as you requested; no ceremony," Daphnes smiled on as he reached back to the frowning-faced servant standing on his right, gripping what appeared to be a silver-shining trophy, littered with golden Rupees inside its cup. "Your trophy... and your prize money."

"Thanks Harky." Link smiled back on, extending his small hands to receive the trophy. His affectionate nickname for the much older man drew an uncomfortable cough from the listening Impa, folded-armed and frowning in disapproval as she ever did as she stood on the throne's side.

Zelda, standing next to her attendant however, held back another amused giggle.

"The royal family will always consider you a close friend, Hero of Time," Daphnes further illustrated in a rather humble bow, surprising the sheepish-faced youth; he awkwardly bowed his own form forward in response, feeling somewhat obliged to. "If only your family were still alive," the smiling king spoke on in a saddened tone to his bass. "I'd have liked to have thanked them myself."

Link chuckled awkwardly again, swivelling his blonde-haired head away from the older man's, his tell-tale green hat resting upon his head once more. "Y-Yeah...," he answered in his similarly sorrowful tenor. "Me too."

Impa barely let her wince register on her face, something that the watching Zelda could not; her earlier amused smile quickly revolved into a pity-filled frown.

"Now...," Daphnes began again, his spirits rising back up as he did. "Is what I hear true? You wish to go travelling the rest of our continent's landscape?"

Link's classic toothy smirk returned to his countenance as he nodded, his curtained blonde fringe bouncing lightly as he did. "Yeah!" He answered. "Palashia's next I guess, given it's the Prima World Tour's next destination." He explained briefly in another chuckle, rubbing the back of his head as he did.

"And I hear that sir Alwyn and sir Barkner also wish to join you on this expedition?" Daphnes asked, dark-blonde eyebrows rising up in light curiosity.

"I mean I did tell 'em it'll be tough," the grinning-faced Link shot back with an overconfident shrug, drawing an annoyed look from the listening Impa. "But yeah, they did." He nodded on in his grin.

"Hrm...," the man began thoughtfully, turning his crowned head 'round to face the eyebrow-risen Impa behind him. "Impa... would you consider going with him?"

Link's grin soon fell in favour of a surprised-faced frown. "Impa-sensei?"

"Me?" The Sheikah asked curiously, exchanging her frown with the standing Link before re-facing her king. "I mean I have taught him and all, but..."

"It would be fairly constructive I think," the man began lightly, rising up his right elbow to rest across his similarly risen left hand. "You know how to keep a lid on the... Shinzui, after all, don't you Impa?"

The Sheikah woman swung her frown on the surprised-faced Link before re-facing the man before her and nodding. "That's true," she claimed. "It's still an Aegir Art I'm developing though."

"Developing with who?" Daphnes questioned curiously, frown deepening.

"Me..."

The trio all turned their heads 'round to find the sheepish-looking Zelda standing in a light wince; realising all eyes were on her she lowered down her raised left hand and coughed out awkwardly. Daphnes' brow furrowed in response; a silent gesture for the girl to elaborate.

"Ahem...," Zelda began, lightly clearing her throat. "It's been something of a project of mine, ever since Link first revealed the existence of the holy Triforce you see, father..."

Daphnes narrowed a single eye down at her, almost as if he were doubtful of her claim before nodding.

"I find if I utilise the same kind of Aegir, then I may have a good chance at suppressing the chaotic energies hidden within the power that he has," she explained fairly briefly, nodding in the similarly acknowledging and grinning-faced Link. "It's been difficult... but doable."

"Hrm...," Daphnes murmured out, rising up his index finger to rest on his mouth thoughtfully. "I imagine without my daughter present, the developing of this sealing-art will be hampered severely."

"I'm afraid so, your majesty," Impa nodded in her ever business-like frown. "It's something I have tremendous trouble with."

Hyrule's king sighed, almost as if in some form of defeat, before at last turning his big-bearded head 'round to slap a beefy arm on the wide-eyed Link's left shoulder.

"Then I entrust her to you, my son," the man smiled on in a nod, eliciting a surprised frown from the youth. "I know that, with your skills in battle and with Impa teaching you, you will be a fine man to protect her with."

"Oh I dunno about that," the youth shot back half-seriously, his ego stroked powerfully and noticeably; the grin on his face served to illuminate his overconfidence as he shrugged in the man's direction, drawing an amused smile from the watching Zelda and rolling-eyed frown from Impa. "But I will give my life for hers Harky," he added on in his confident-faced smirk, nodding in the man's direction. "That much I can promise you."

King Daphnes chuckled in his smiling-faced nod, eyes briefly shut as he did. "That's all I can ask for, my boy."

~

"So when do we leave the country's borders? I can't wait to see what it looks like!" Barkner called out as the group marched on through Hyrule Field itself, wearing what appeared to be a large rucksack across his back.

"I believe we have a few stops first, I'm afraid to say," the frowning-faced Alwyn responded, his teal-shaded eyes briefly shut as he did. "Miss Malon's father would like to see her off and..."

"And I gotta see Saria one last time."

The grinning Link's comments did not go unheard of by the listening female portion of the group; Zelda exchanged an unsure head-shaking frown with the similarly-faced Malon and Impa rose an eyebrow up before she quickly realised the boy's origins. It was only when they began to descend down the field's top rolling green that they spotted Talon's ever-noticeable wagon, manned by the scowling-faced Ingo.

"Ahhh Malon! Link!"

The chubby man himself, owner and proprietor of Lon Lon Ranch stepped out from the wagon itself and the many milk bottles atop its hardwood. Link nodded his head upward in greeting, grinning on sociably as he always loved to, rising up a small hand to wave him down.

"Yo!"

"Dad, get down from there!" Malon called out, annoyed as she jogged forward to close the distance quicker, arms gripped on the straps of her own rucksack.

"Hello darlin'...!" Talon grunted out, ever in his sociable smile as he dropped down from the wagon. As if in response, the wagon's hardwood creaked, almost as if it were happy to be rid of his weight. "S'nice to see you too!" The large man grinned back, folding his arms at the young girl as he exchanged an amused look with the chuckling Link.

Malon stared up at him, annoyed. "You'll risk breaking the milk bottles again dad! For goddess' sake, honestly!"

Talon chortled good-naturedly, his cheer constant in spite of her miffed mood; he shot down what appeared to be a straw-hat on the girl's head, surprising her briefly. She growled as she tipped it up and realigned her straight red hair.

"So how you doin' everyone? Treatin' my daughter right, I hope?" The sociable man chuckled in as he leaned forward to issue the similarly-expressed Link with a simple handshake.

"Yes sir, much as we can," the Hylian blonde shot back, nodding on in response. "Ain't that right guys?"

"She's been a good help," Impa spoke up for the group, giving one of her rare smiles as she folded her arms forward. "Mostly in keeping tweedle-dumb out of trouble." The Sheikah joked with, directing her smirking comment on the half-smirking Link.

"Hey!" He called out, half-joking to join the charade. Malon issued out a smirk as the rest of the group chuckled on.

"Talon! Get a move on!"

Ingo's annoyed and impatient shout caused the group to half-turn in his direction and for the wincing ranch-owner to nod on along with him.

"Anyway... I thought you'd be going by Kokiri Forest, so I had Ingo make a little detour for us," the chubby man smiled on as he reached back into the wagon behind him, pulling out what appeared to be milk bottles. "Add these to your inventory ladies and gents!"

He handed out the bottles to the gratefully-accepting Alwyn, Barkner, Impa and Zelda, receiving thanks from each one in their own respective ways.

"Ah! And the special order!" Talon grinned on, issuing an index finger up as he cast his grin down on the watching Link and Malon.

The Hylian blonde rose up a curious-faced eyebrow as he exchanged a look with the frowning-faced Malon; she winced and avoided his azure-shaded eyesight, drawing suspicion her way. Sure enough, Talon pulled back out a single bottle of what appeared to be a new kind of milk, a purple-shaded ribbon attached to its glass container, along with the usual Lon Lon sticker.

"Now I don't imagine it'll be perfect... but we got the recipe down as closely as we could!" The ranch-owner grinned on as he lowered the glass bottle down to the blinking Link. "This is 'Chateau Romani'! Please... enjoy yourself!"

The listening Link widened his cobalt-blue eyes in sheer shock as he reached out lightly to paw at the glass bottle, examining it briefly.

Sure enough it looked almost exactly like the fabled milk of desire from Termina itself.

So how did Talon know about it?

Realising the only person he mentioned it to was Malon once he got back, he turned his blonde-haired head 'round to frown over at her and found her avoiding his eyesight as if embarrassed. Talon erupted into boisterous-held laughter, hand on his belly as he did.

"My little cherub knows her stuff!" The man exclaimed out before lowering his head to face the blonde youth below him. "We got in contact with them thanks to those lovely fellows at Prima," he explained briefly. "We had no idea there was a ranch so similar way out there!"

Link's awkward chuckle belied the knowledge he held.

That ain't all that's similar, he added on silently.

"Anyway... thank little Malon fer that one!" The moustached man smiled in an upwards nod, hands resting on his knees as he bent over. "She's the one that did most the legwork."

"Urgh... dad..." The listening farm girl rolled her eyes in annoyance, drawing another comfortable laugh from the group. Link cast his grin toward her, however, and reached down with his free right hand to briefly give her small left one a soft and affectionate squeeze. She blushed and turned away from him again, drawing another grin from the former Hero of Time.

I need to stop using my mental maturity as an advantage, he thought to himself silently.

"Sure is funny though."

–

3

"Damn... this place is a lot bigger 'n I heard...," Barkner murmured out, his eyes widened to match his voiced surprise as he slowly surveyed his rocky-bodied head around their new greenish-coloured surroundings. "So many houses too!"

"It's a settlement that's existed beyond even our time as Zorans," Alwyn spoke up knowledgeably next to the Goron, pulling his frowning-faced attention. The similarly-expressed soldier gripped both straps of his own rucksack closer to his shoulders as he continued his march alongside the rest of the group. "Before we gained independence in the Zora's River, and I think even before the Gorons settled in at Death Mountain, these people have always been hiding here."

"Correct," Impa agreed with in her own frowning nod. "It's been a fairly handy place for storing important things; lots of people tend to just overlook it. No-one wants to go through the woods, after all."

"Losers," Link huffed back, ever in his provincial grin. "This is where I grew up; it's got all kinds-a-stuff waitin' inside!"

"It's nice to finally get a look at this place," Malon spoke up in her own small smirk, tipping up a side of her straw-hat as she did. "Didn't you promise me to show me where you live too?" She further requested, poking and prodding the chuckling youth on her left.

"Link...? Is that you?"

The far-off figure standing a few yards away from them, in the line of sight of what appeared to be one of Kokiri Forest's many houses, turned his auburn-haired head 'round to face the group. Link regained his sociable smirk and nodded his blonde-haired head upwards at his former nemesis-turned-companion before stepping forward.

"Yo, Mido, Dende!"

The frowning Impa exchanged an unsure look with the nodding Zelda and the rest of the group followed along behind their fearless leader. The little Kokiri gained a small smirk of his own as he stepped forward to issue out a brotherly handshake toward the blonde. The two were joined by one of the many Kokiri children that Link later knew after his return from his first journey; a messy-haired boy by the name of Dende.

"I didn't think you'd be back so soon...," Mido began curiously, his light-blue eyes double-taking in the group's direction, eyebrow rising up in curiosity. "I take it these are...?"

"Yeah," Link chuckled, lowering his hand to re-affix his pressure on his white duffel bag hanging over his shoulder. "These are my friends; Al."

The Zoran frowned and bowed forward respectfully in meeting with the auburn-haired boy.

"Barkner."

The Goron nodded down in his contrastingly friendly grin.

"Impa-sensei."

The Sheikah bowed in a similar manner to her Zoran counterpart.

"Zel."

The blonde princess shot the grinning-faced Link a half-annoyed grin of her own, presumably for using a nickname, before curtsying royally.

"And Malon."

"Oh you must be... Mido?" The fire-haired farm girl began in greeting, gaining a half-surprised chuckle of awkwardness from the Kokiri. Mido exchanged a silent sweaty look with the frowning and head-shaking Dende.

"U-Um... yes... I'm leader of the Kokiri people here," Mido coughed out in an attempt to sound somewhat professional. He reached forward his hand to shake hers in an awkward display of cordiality. "We... hope you enjoy your stay here."

"Actually Mido we'll be out of your hair soon enough," Link responded, ever in his motivating smile. "I just gotta speak to Saria one last time before we go."

"Going on another adventure?" Mido bounced back curiously, his own smile dissolving in place of a doubtful-faced frown. "But you just got back."

"What can I say," the grinning Link chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "I need ya to keep 'em busy while I go say goodbye to Saria; can ya do that?"

"For you? Sure... but you'll owe me," Mido countered, one of his eyes narrowing in a knowing grin that made the listening Hylian laugh out loud. "Bring me back one of those pastries from that town you always go to."

"Sure," he threw over his shoulder, turning to leave for Saria's house. "I'll be back soon as I can!"

"Oh... she's in your house today Link!" Mido called out with both hands amplifying his voice, realising he'd forgotten to tell the youth. He winced before turning to face the group. "W-Well... um... would anyone like a tour?"

~

"I was wondering when you'd get back..."

Link's half-curious frown quickly upturned into the satisfied smirk he was known for when he climbed the hardwood ladder of his childhood years; sure enough, as Mido called out behind him, he was right. There she was with an apron 'round her.

"What are you doin' in here?" Link batted back in his amused chortle, stepping forward to join her in the centre of the small house he grew up in. "I was ready to go to your house and-"

"Well... this place gets far too dusty for my liking while you're away on your goddess-forsaken errands," the smiling-faced Saria replied simply enough as she reached back to untie the apron she wore. "So did you find Navi?" She asked, forest-green eyebrows rising up in curiosity.

Link's grin soon fell flat and he lowered his oceanic eyes, shaking his straw-haired head in response.

"Ah...," Saria soldiered on with a somewhat weaker smile before re-rising her emerald-haired head to face the boy with. "Well, it's only been three days; I'm sure she'll be out there somewhere."

"That's the plan," the brash youth shot back, his smirk regained. "Well... kinda!" He laughed out using his right hand to rub the back of his green-hat head; an old habit. "I'm gonna get my name out there so everyone remembers me; she's bound to notice!" He explained briefly, confident and all. Her own smile returned, flavoured this time with a stronger smile to match.

"That's good...," she said, eyes lightly hovering over his form. "And you're here to...?"

"Say goodbye, of course!" The blonde batted back, half-tilting his head at her. "Didn't think I'd go without seein' you, did ya?"

She chuckled, lightly amused by his ever-infectious mood. "I'm sorry; I must come off as insensitive," she apologised before opening her arms out and pulling her outstretched fingers toward her. "Come on."

The boy turned his head behind him, almost as if to look for anyone watching, before eventually stepping forward and wrapping his own small arms 'round the girl's form. She smiled and rested her green-clothed hands across his similarly-attired back, eyes shut as she did.

"I'm gonna make you proud!" He called out confidently, eyes staring at his old opened window next to his small bed as if it were the arena he fought at mere hours ago. "I swear."

She laughed lightly through her nose, a small smirk on her own face growing. "I know you will."

–

4

After having been given the full tour of Kokiri Forest by the surprisingly-helpful Mido, and meeting the Deku Tree Sprout into the bargain, the Kokiri decided to see the grateful travellers off with a generous donation of berries and fruits local only to the Faron area of the country. With all their errands complete, and with the proper permission in the proper places, the group turned their attention to at last leaving Hyrule via a fairly common route that other travellers and suppliers utilise quite frequently.

The location, surprisingly, was situated via Hyrule's main south-east; a long and winding road known to the public as 'Hylashia Road', presumably for its connection and joining of the two countries. The path itself was fairly uneventful, for around an hour, before eventually the group came face-to-face with their very first landmark outside of their home country; a large and lush-looking waterfall, teeming with wildlife.

It was a sight for sore eyes, to say the least.

"Ugggh my feet are killing me," the tired Malon groaned out, eyes rolling up to the sky in display of her growing annoyance. "I don't know how you do this all day!" She exclaimed, directing her comment toward the chuckling Link.

"Not the hardy type eh?" The similarly grinning Barkner threw into the conversation with.

"I'm hardy!" The insulted little farm girl shot back. "I lived on a farm! Did all kinds of hard work. And at super-early times too!"

"Yeah I'll bet," Link chortled next to her. "Talon and Ingo must have been tired keepin' up." He joked on, drawing an annoyed rolling-eyed frown from the girl when she realised the two were teasing her.

"I must admit, the journey has been hard on my legs." Zelda murmured out from the centre of the group, casting her saddened frown upon the royal dress she always liked to wear.

"I don't see Al complainin'!" Link shot back in his confident-faced grin.

"When you work within the military you're trained for this kind of thing," the former Zoran soldier spoke on, frowning as he normally did. "I could go on for a few more hours."

"Urrrgh I'll drop if I go on a few more hours!" Malon groaned a second time, at last drawing a response from their marching leader in the centre.

"All right... we'll stop in this area for a spell," Impa spoke up in her commanding contralto, drawing surprised frowns from the members of the group. "I was hoping that Hylashia Waterfall was still standing." The Sheikah wondered out aloud as she turned her ruby-red gaze toward the noisy crashes and rushes of the water around them.

"It looks beautiful...," Zelda began lowly in her soft-toned soprano. "Has it always been here?"

"As far as we know," Alwyn responded next to her, lowering his head to direct his words to her shorter form, his eyes never leaving the alluring form of the ocean before him. "I have a few friends that swim out here every now and again."

"Come on then Link," Impa began again, stepping closer toward the water's edge and a pathway surrounding it, dropping her rucksack nearby. "Throw your duffel bag off and we'll work on your form." She ordered, peeling off the rucksack she lugged around to drop down toward the group massing around the waterfall's edge. As Malon and Zelda gratefully sat down and issued out what appeared to be a small blanket, presumably for a picnic of all things, the grinning Barkner joined them presumably to watch the inevitable clash of student and teacher.

"Is that a good idea...?" Link batted back, half-curious as he turned around to face the open road behind them. "I mean we have no idea how far Palashia still-"

"We're pretty much there already," Impa sighed out in her own business-like frown as she rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck from side-to-side. "The rest is just a couple minutes march."

"Thank Din for that." The listening Malon muttered out from her sitting position, blue eyes rolling upward. The sitting Barkner and Zelda chuckled in response.

"Think I'll go for a swim..." Alwyn murmured from the side, dropping down his own rucksack as he turned toward the waterfall beneath them. The group swung their heads 'round, mildly concerned, before suddenly realising he was a Zoran.

SPLASH

"Hope the water's nice and cool!" Barkner called over his shoulder, ever in his cheery grin.

"All right, then!" Link grinned on alongside his more sociable comrades, hovering his white-shaded duffel bag over to his side. He kicked off both his boots and hopped around in place as he tilted his neck from side-to-side, similarly to his mentor earlier. The blonde rose up his fists and rested them on either side of one another, clenching both hands' fingers together. "Let's do it!"

~

"One thing you don't seem to understand... is 'okizeme'," Impa began, placing a hand on her hip as she cast her frown toward the grinning-faced blonde before her. "It's easily one of your biggest weakness in fighting."

"That sounds like somethin' I ate once." Link quipped back, grinning on as he always did. Malon rolled her eyes, unamused as the similarly smirking Barkner pulled his head back and laughed uproariously, joined only by the modestly-chuckling Zelda ahead of him.

"That's it, joke, joke away...," the Sheikah smirked lowly back, eyes briefly shut before she re-opened them to face him. "Keep that attitude up and you'll be looking at less than even second place in Palashia."

Link rolled his own eyes and briefly set his legs apart, arms falling before he regained his posture and nodded. "I understand... Impa-sensei."

Satisfied, Impa nodded similarly before continuing. "When your enemy knocks you down and pressures you with a meaty attack... you almost never choose to block it."

The boy chuckled back in response sheepishly, rubbing the back of his green-hat head. "I always did like to lay the rush-down on 'em first..."

"A powerful offence is a good tool but it means nothing if your defence is lacking," the Sheikah elaborated on carefully, eyes briefly narrowing as she spoke. "I'm going to come at you with a lot so try, with all your might, to block this."

The youth resisted the urge to roll his eyes, still riding the high his ego shot up from his journeys through Hyrule and Termina.

"Pft... as if she could-"

It was only when he clocked her form descending down from the sky somehow, at a similarly intense speed, that he widened his cobalt-blue eyes and side-stepped out of the way to narrowly avoid it. As Impa skidded along the watery and grassy ground beneath her, she narrowed her fire-red eyes and swept at the floor with her free right foot in a twisting spinning low kick.

Sensing it coming, Link made a face at his Sheikah mentor as he used the ground to flip over the side of her head, drawing an amused laugh from the watching Barkner and Zelda. When he inevitably came back down behind her, he shot down his left outstretched palm to chop down in counter-attack, slamming splashes of water and small tufts of grass up into the air from the effort. Sure enough, however, he realised fairly quickly she was using an after-image when her form shimmered and glimmered.

He widened his sky-blue eyes and snapped his body 'round behind him and there she was, quick as a flash, shooting a roundhouse in his face's general direction. He grunted in actual effort as he used his right arm to parry and block the strike, drawing an impressed grin from the watching Impa.

"Impressive," the Sheikah began. "But let's see how you deal with... this."

She widened her eyes and, all of a sudden the boy regretted leaving his own eyes opened.

FLASSSHHHH

"Agh...!"

A blinding flash of light somehow burst in his field of vision, essentially blinding him and causing him to stumble backward, his hands risen up to cradle his eyes. As he had half-expected she pressed the assault she successfully gained by sweeping a second time and, this time, the sweep landed; he grunted as he fell to the ground, drips of water sprinkling skyward. Impa widened her eyes as she rose up her right leg with which to axe kick pressure the boy with and, sensing an attack coming, Link gasped in desperation as he rolled away to safety.

SMASH

The ground was ate up horribly from Impa's powerful assault, sending small stones and boulders flying up to meet the sprinkling residue water nearby, as she continued on her offensive pressure.

"I-Impa! Don't be so rough with him..." Zelda called out in a watching wince, mid-sentence as she pulled out a personal hip-flask, embroidered in pink to match her favourite colour presumably by the royal family itself.

"Come on princess!" Barkner laughed on jovially behind her, drawing her surprised attention. He sat in a folded-armed grin, his rocky-bodied legs joined together. "He's gotta learn how to deal with a strong set of offensive tools!"

"I... suppose..." Zelda murmured out in quiet-voiced defeat, turning back to watch the fight.

"Oh don't worry," Malon smiled next to her, taking a bite out of one of the fruits the Kokiri gifted her with, a kind of knowing and satisfied smirk to her soprano. "He'll be fine; a bit of physical agony does a boy some good!"

At last the narrow-eyed Impa managed to track down the gasping and rolling Link, essentially cornering him in a small area next to an incline that acted as a corner. Left with no further option than to block, Link shot up not only his arms but his legs as the wide-eyed Sheikah grunted in her next axe-kick follow-up.

WHOOSH-WHACKKKK

The pair struggled together in their assault and defensive manoeuvres before, eventually, the young Hylian twisted his small arms and switched the point of force. Impa's fire-red eyes widened in alarm but it was too late; as she watched on the boy managed to pull her own tall form down with him, crashing to the ground, as he grinned on in satisfaction.

"Woo!" The similarly-faced Barkner called forward, leaning back on his two hands as rose up his head to call in watching of the sparring. "Gotta watch those toes!"

Left in a concerning conundrum of her own making, Impa's mind worked quickly with which to reverse her defence into offence and, sure enough, she channelled through a non-elemental Aegir that stung the gasping Link from sheer contact with her body.

It wasn't much, but it was all she needed to go free from his grip.

As she swiftly snaked her body from his, the Sheikah leapt forward before the wide-eyed Hero of Time could even think to recover and swung her left clenched fist down toward him.

Before it could connect, however, she stopped it mid-flight; the wide-eyed Link could only stare in shocked surprise, not so much that his defence was lacking, but that she somehow evaded his counter-attack. He couldn't help but shut his oceanic eyes in a light grin however when he realised this was part of the lesson.

"Guess it's why she's the sensei... and I'm the student." He pondered on silently.

Even as the Sheikah's swift fist near smashed into the blonde's face the watching Zelda gave out a loud gasp that didn't go unheard; the frowning-faced Malon and half-surprised Barkner all swung their heads in her direction. She could only turn her head from theirs, embarrassed.

"Good," Impa spoke up as she pulled herself up from the watery and grassy ground beneath them, lowering her free right hand as a vault for him. He took it in a grateful-faced smile. "Obviously there was little you could do about the Aegir-Flow technique but otherwise I'm glad you finally started to block toward the end of that." She stated as the boy grunted in his stand-up position.

He turned his blonde-haired head downward as he rubbed his tunic off of the water and other dirt that managed to gather up on its green-shaded front.

She folded her arms in her usual frown as she continued. "Think of your legs as swords and your arms as axes with which to launch your counter-attacks...," she began before re-narrowing her eyes. "But you must also consider them as shields...," she started again. "Option selects, fifty-fifty's, shimmies, cross-ups, mix-ups and everything else in between; all of these are paramount to the use of your arms and legs. Without them, you have no tools with which to utilise your offence and defensive skills."

"Gotta have limbs to use my cards basically, huh," Link grinned back at her, rising up his small arms to rest behind his blonde-haired head; an old habit. His comedic yet informative words managed to draw an appreciative giggle from the listening Zelda and even a light smile from the rested-up Malon. "Thanks... Impa-sensei."

SPLASH

The group swung their heads 'round to the source of the abrupt noise, only to find the grunting Alwyn flipping up out of the waterfall miles below them acrobatically; he landed fairly gracefully and shut his teal-shaded eyes briefly as he rolled around his shoulders, as if from the strenuous activity he had just gone through.

"We ready to leave yet?" The former Zoran soldier posed his question forward, re-opening his eyes to frown ahead as he re-folded his arms to match.

"Yes I think I'm satisfied," Impa smiled rarely in the Zoran's direction, nodding in accord. "We're fairly close to Palashia anyway; all we need now is a few more minutes' walk."

"Sounds good ta-me!" The ever positive Barkner smiled on out as he stood to attention, his energy still high. "I was gettin' restless just watchin' anyhow!" The Goron admitted in an amused chuckle.

"Urrrgh I was hoping we could stay a few more minutes...," Malon groaned out again, not looking forward to the idea of marching again. "But if we're close..."

"It'll fly by I'm sure," Zelda smiled on sociably next to the red-haired girl, standing up as she began to put away the small blanket she laid out earlier. "Impa's rarely wrong."

"Up we go!"

Malon exclaimed a shocked little noise as she was suddenly and powerfully gripped by the legs and hoisted up on one's shoulders; when she realised it was Barkner that did it, her initial panic soon passed.

"And if you're still complaining we can always leave you." Impa shot over jokingly, arms folded in a small grin to match her anecdote, drawing a listening laugh from the walking Link as he picked back up his white duffel bag. The piggybacking Malon folded her own small arms atop the grinning-faced Barkner's rocky body beneath her in response, re-opening her mouth to retort.

"You're mean!"

Barkner's booming laugh carried them toward the road they were marching on before.

–

5

"And you won... just as anticipated... yes...?"

"Yes sensei...," Raynard responded, spiky-haired head lowered in his knelt-down state. Standing in front of him appeared to be a robed man, his slim figure hidden fairly well in the darkened shadows they both resided in. The sound of people talking and bustling around far-off was muffled from the back-streets they spoke in; seemingly the back-alley of Hyrule Castletown itself. "That curse thing you gave me really did the trick."

The robed man huffed out a low-toned laugh of satisfaction and knowing, a smirk evident in his baritone. "Yes...," he began again, folding his robed arms. "It is Quintessence ripped directly from the holy Triforce itself."

Realising the source of his greatest strength came from the same well that his rival had, Raynard shot his chestnut-brown eyes up in surprise. "S-So does that mean-?!"

"No...," the man shook his robed head in response, a new frown evident in his authoritative tone. "While our enemy seems to have a direct link to the holy Triforce you do not," he explained briefly before turning his head back forward, his eyes narrowing beneath his hood. "No this Aegir came directly from my former master; a man that was set to rule this loathsome country."

Raynard furrowed his brow in deep contemplation.

He remembered the rumours of a man being apprehended by the Hylianis Militaris Ordinis shortly within his arrival from the desert; a man that was seemingly there to pledge his loyalty and was allegedly deceptive of it.

I forget his damn name, the scowling-faced Raynard thought, his frown twitching in annoyance.

It must be from him then.

"It is a power that will serve you well in the upcoming championship your new rival will be attending...," the nameless figure continued on, drawing the black-haired boy's surprised attention again. "In Palashia."

"Palashia...," the listening Raynard parroted out in a frowning-faced mutter. "How far is it?"

"Not that far," the man shot back, turning his head back forward. "I can take us there instantaneously."

Raynard lowered his tree-shaded eyes and furrowed his brow lightly in deep-thought.

Not once had he asked this man his intentions. In having met him, and helped him on a sheer whim from retreating from the Hylian military, the old man deigned to gift the grateful boy with incredible Aegir and power.

But for what reason, he wondered silently.

"Surely he wants me to do something... I just wish I knew what that was."

"Rest thy concerns... young Van Garrick...," the robed man spoke, eliciting a surprised risen-eyebrow from the boy. "You have elected wisely, after all... I know everything of this sordid country's history. Including the bloody history of your clan's murder...," the man chuckled on maliciously, half-turning his head as he spoke. "These people... how quick they love to forget their own savagery."

Raynard narrowed his eyes in a mixture of melancholy and hardened-grit.

"They may have imprisoned Din's chosen in a feeble attempt to stave off the wheel of fate's machinations...," the man began again, his hardened-hazel shaded eyes glaring forward as he spoke. "But they will not affect mine," he spat out, his scowl twitching in his hateful-laced words. "I will stand... far above my old master... and even above Alphanion himself..."

Raynard's brow furrowed again as he listened, unable to translate any of the gibberish the old man was spouting. The old man pulled down his hood, at last revealing his bald-headed dome and newly-smirking face.

"For I, Scaverin Estienne, will mould myself to become the successor to Alphanion!"


	9. Murder in the Mines; History of Aurelia

Chapter 9: Murder in the Mines; History of Aurelia  
Path to Palashia's Premier Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst The World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Reconciled People" - YS VI: The Ark of Napishtim OST. Scene 1 (First & Second Half) and 2 (First Half).

\--

With the Hero of Time's fast progression through the 'Hylian Hyrax', a martial arts national championship tournament part of the 'World Tour' by a conglomerate by name of 'Prima', he finds many companions; some old and some new.

Barkner, a sociable and happy-go-lucky Goron from Death Mountain and a man Link once met during his adventure for the Spiritual Stones.

Alwyn, a former Zoran soldier with a hardened stoic disposition to match; another companion the boy met during his stint for the Zora's Sapphire.

Malon, a young girl from local 'Lon Lon Ranch', and a close friend from the ruined timeline in which he came; a relationship in which he is still acclimatising to.

Zelda, namesake to the capital of the continent of Aurelia and royal princess of it; another close companion of the charismatic blonde boy and one with no memories of their time together in Hyrule's rebellion.

And, of course, his mentor; last of the Sheikah and the royal princess' attendant herself, Impa. With incredible years of knowledge in martial arts from her own history in training, Impa agrees to travel with the party together, acting as their leader and their advisor.

Now with the Hylian Hyrax complete, and with his place as 'second' secured lost only to his old rival Raynard Van Garrick, Link takes the newly-gained trophy, Rupees and 'championship points'; a currency utilised by the Prima World Tour that inevitably culminates as a qualifying piece for the ending tournament of the season.

The World Championships themselves.

His sights now set on securing the World Championship title as world's greatest martial artist, and to get his name out there as a recognisable one, Link hopes in some effort to find the old companion he once shared his forgotten journey with in the ruined Hyrule he came from. The party looks on to neighbouring 'Palashia'; a classic-like metropolitan with an odd culture and custom that puzzles and near frustrates Link and his friends.

Having arrived in more than ample enough time for the next national championship tournament, the heroes decide to take in the sights of Palashia's main hub, Rocknesse, and the many Aurelians that litter it...

\--

Scene 1

"So this is Palashia...," the frowning-faced Zelda murmured out as the group were at last allowed to pass through the main gate. She turned her blonde-haired head to survey 'round the tall spire-like buildings that surrounded them, amidst the many bustling Aurelians that marched about the city, presumably on business. "It's so much bigger than I read about..."

"This is where most of Aurelia's business is conducted," Impa spoke up as regulator of the group, ever frowning as she affixed her grip on the straps of the rucksack tied to her shoulders. "A lot of people retire here when they have a lot of Rupees."

"You ain't kiddin'," Link chuckled as he followed along the Sheikah behind her, his grin quickly dropping as a couple men and women pushed past him. "Agh! Hey!" He exclaimed out, annoyed; the frowning-faced Alwyn, Barkner, Zelda and Malon all swung their heads 'round in half-surprise before realising their situation had unchanged. "Damn! No manners." The Hylian muttered out, annoyed.

"Stay close...," the Sheikah advised wisely, watching the countless people that passed them gifting them all with angry glances. "It'd be fairly easy to get lost within this amount of people."

"Yeah, for sure," Barkner agreed in his half-worried frown. "Is it... just me or are they all..." He began again, this time in an unsure shake of his head, narrowing his dark-brown shaded eyes.

"Displeased."

The group swung their heads in the similarly-faced Zelda's direction, surprised, before eventually turning their eyes 'round to gauge her words' validity.

Sure enough most people that saw them, especially the adults, shot the children nauseated and repulsed looks.

"Sure are...," Link murmured out in quiet-voiced agreement, brow furrowing in realisation. "I wonder why that...?"

"Not all Hylian history is altruistic," the frowning-faced Alwyn at last spoke up, drawing interested looks from the party. "There are a lot of people here who have faced persecution or, whose relatives have faced persecution, by the Hylians themselves."

"That's terrible...," the listening Zelda claimed in a disapproving tone to match the soprano she spoke with. "Why isn't it in the history books that I-?"

"You'll find that... history is written by the winners, princess," Impa explained briefly for the Zoran behind her, turning her silver-shaded head to face the girl below her. "In the times of the Sorcerer of the Divine Divide and following it, because Hyrule was originally the main capital of the world itself, your ancestors made slaves of these people and of their descendants."

Link winced on as he listened. "Eesh..."

"You'd think someone would have told us that," Malon spoke up, her fire-haired eyebrows resting down in a pained look. "That's horrible."

"That's the truth sweetheart," Barkner chuckled out in a half-smiling shrug, perhaps as a way to raise the atmosphere's low mood. "Most people never like to face what they've done, especially when it's somethin' horrific like that."

"He ain't wrong...," Link nodded in quiet-voiced agreement, a hardened frown to his tenor. "I know what he means."

Sure enough his memory went back to the numerous people he'd dealt with in Termina, simply unable to deal with the moon crashing down around them.

It was only when the grotesque orb in the sky began to drop down toward them at an alarming rate that they finally decided to leave Clock Town and seek shelter elsewhere.

"Not that it helped 'em..." He thought in a wry grin, thinking with less humility on his own efforts to save the land.

"This place can be dangerous if any of you are left alone, particularly any of you that are Hylian," Impa spoke up again wisely, turning her ruby-red gaze down on the three children behind her. "I don't want any of you travelling alone, even you." She nodded her silver-shaded head down toward the chuckling Link.

She was right, he thought.

Thinking on it, there'd no doubt be nutjobs out there that'd wanna exact revenge for their dead family or long-deceased ancestors.

"Well that's unfortunate," the grinning Link shot back, his oceanic eyes briefly shut as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, drawing a curious raised eyebrow from the Sheikah. "I kinda wanted to go shoppin'."

"You want to go shopping?" Malon grinned back in his direction, eliciting a half-surprised frown from the boy as he double-took toward her. "But you're a boy."

"Well now you're just generalising me!" The Hylian blonde bounced back in a know-it-all smirk of his own, placing his free left hand across his hip. The crimson-haired farm girl rolled her eyes but kept her small grin upon her face, the bantering exchange drawing an appreciative chuckle from the listening Zelda and Barkner.

"What for?" Impa pressed the boy, drawing his surprised frown toward her; he soon regained his sociable smile as he hovered his eyes around to face her again, re-opening his mouth as he did.

"Gotta get another karate gi!" The boy reminded the Sheikah woman with, ever in his knowing grins as he edged his free left thumb toward the white duffel bag that he carried over his shoulder with his right. "Managed to burn the last 'un." He chuckled out in a sheepish wince, rubbing the back of his green-hat head a second time. Impa sighed in low-toned defeat, shutting her eyes as she did.

"All right... but you're not going alone."

Link resisted the urge to groan and shrugged back at her. "Impa-sensei I can take care of mys-"

"I'll go with him."

The group all swung their heads 'round to find the diffident Zelda chuckling in a similarly awkwardly wince as she rose up her hand to match the words she previously spoke. The grinning-faced Barkner issued the frowning Alwyn next to him a friendly nudge, as he turned his look on the slightly-miffed form of Malon next to them.

Alwyn rolled his eyes.

"No," Impa shook her silver-shaded head in disapproval. "You're both Hylian; it'd be extremely dangerous to leave you both out there alone."

"I'll go with 'em," Alwyn at last spoke up, in a light sighing frown as he stepped forward ushering the gasping Zelda to step toward the blinking-faced Link. "Might as well be me; I was wanting to do a little sight-seeing while we're here anyhow." The Zoran soldier shrugged, ever business-like and quick to the point. Impa narrowed a single ruby-red eye at them, suspicious, before at last she sighed a second time in defeat.

The puppy-dog-eye look she received from the princess was enough to sway her usually-iron will.

"All right...," she sighed, outwardly tired from the discussion, shaking her head as she re-opened her fire-coloured eyes. "Just be careful, won't you?"

Alwyn nodded in swift understanding and agreement; like a soldier to its commander.

"Ain't no reason to worry with me at the helm Impa-sensei," the ever overconfident Link brashly shot out with, utilising his free right thumb to edge it toward his chest in a display of his courage. "I'll watch over us!"

The listening Zelda smiled widely, holding back a noticeable giggle in her look as she watched him, even drawing a lightly-amused smile from the similarly listening Alwyn behind them both. Impa rolled her eyes again, a tiny smile of her own dotting her complexion.

"Just... be careful...," she requested again, turning her eyes back to face the trio. "Won't you?"

~

'Spiros' Significant Sacraments'

Link blinked up at the large hardwood sign blowing lightly in the mild wind that blew comfortably around them before swinging his oceanic-eyed gaze down into the open window before him.

"This place is probably a bad idea...," Alwyn murmured out behind the two Hylian blondes as they inspected the insides of the shop from outside. "It looks a little too expensive for us."

"Pft!" Link blew into the air, his confident grin returned to him as he turned his head back to face the Zoran soldier behind him. "In your dreams Al! I got money!" He edged another of his many thumbs in his chest's direction, reminding the frowning-faced Zoran of his second-place prize money.

Not to mention the large fortune he had managed to save up in Termina's treasury through the numerous cycles of time he travelled through with Tatl.

"I could always...," Zelda began in a low-toned murmur, reaching into her pink-shaded dress, almost as if for the very thing they were talking about. Sure enough the blonde girl procured a small purse and smiled as she re-rose her head to face the boy. "There!"

Link turned his cobalt-blue eyes from hers, half-way embarrassed that she offered her own monetary funds. "Come on Zel; relyin' on a woman's money?" The blonde shot back in a grinning-faced shrug, attempting with great difficulty to drop the subject. The girl's smile fairly quickly turned into an annoyed frown and she furrowed her brow back at him.

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Hey...," Alwyn murmured out, leaning down in the two children's direction, his ocean-teal eyes wandering around them carefully. "Put that away!" He hissed out. Zelda and her close companion swung their similarly-haired heads 'round in surprised blinks only to find them being watched at by almost every passing man and woman, some watching them with thinly-veiled contempt.

The Hylian princess winced and nodded in agreement; having realised her mistake, she replaced her purse back into the confines of her royal-pink dress and returned her small fingers to rest under the straps of her rucksack.

"Come on guys!"

The overly-enthusiastic voice of their younger companion forced the Zoran and the princess to dart their heads 'round and, just as they feared, he marched on into the fancy large oak door to draw a light noise from the bell overhead.

"Link...!" Alwyn hissed out in his direction, annoyed. His frown twitched as he sighed through his nose, nodding his head toward his disappearing blonde boy. "Come on." He urged the frowning and nodding princess behind him.

As they stepped in, one after the other, they cast their heads around the rich décor of the hardwood and fancy-looking paint. Numerous mannequins stood all dressed up in similarly extravagant clothes; some of which looked outright odd to the Zoran soldier and the Hero of Time. Realising the bell to his establishment had rung not once, but twice, the seeming proprietor himself stepped out from behind the back's door to march around the selling desk. He was a rather tall man, slim hands joined together diagonally and softly, dressed similarly to the elegantly-crafted wear lying around the mannequins.

Link smiled up in the tall man's direction, right hand still gripping the string of his white duffel bag. "Yo!" He greeted in a simple-enough greeting, waving with his free left hand. The man rose a curious black-shaded eyebrow below, an unamused frown dotting his older countenance. "You sell clothes here?"

"Ahem...," the nameless man began, eyes briefly shut almost as if he were insulted before he deigned to re-open them. "See the sign outside young sir...?"

"Yeah...?" Link batted back, his earlier sociable grin soon falling in favour of a genuinely curious frown, a straw-blonde eyebrow rising up to match his curiosity. "What about it?"

"Did it have the word 'discount' or 'shelter' in its description?"

The Hylian boy blinked back at him strangely. "Uh... well, no, but..."

"Then I suggest you both tarry on whence you came," the nameless man huffed in the boy's direction, the same look of contempt clear as day drawn across his face. "You obviously have no reason to be shopping here."

"Come on...," the frowning Alwyn whispered, leaning down to murmur his words quietly to the frowning Zelda and the slow-grinning Link. "This is a waste of time."

Although the madly-grinning Hero of Time was ready to re-open his mouth and attempt to embarrass the insulted man, the frowning-faced Zelda stepped out from the taller Link's form as if to reveal her own presence to the man before them. He widened his eyes and couldn't help to let out a surprised gasp, legitimately shocked to see her standing there.

"P-Princess... Zelda... of Aurelia's capital...?!"

Link double-took in the girl's direction on his left before rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Steal my thunder..." He muttered out childishly.

"I-I-I'm v-very sorry, I had no idea that it was-"

"Yeah, yeah you're sorry; whatever," Link rudely cut the man off in another fairly immature light wave of his left hand, frowning on as he did. "Now that we're important enough to be served how about that service?"

The tall man's own frown twitched in response; an obvious repression of his annoyance. "Quite...," he agreed with the blonde-haired boy. "What was sir... looking for?"

The brash-tempered youth grunted in effort as he swung around his white-shaded duffel bag, dropping it down in front of him as he reached into it. Within he produced the similarly-colourless form of his ruined and burnt karate gi and white-shaded belt; sure enough, after the titanic battle in the Hylian Hyrax's grand finals, there was very little left of them. The man looked down at them with an expression resembling mild disgust and puzzlement.

"I been lookin' all around for a place that does somethin' like this," Link pressed the man with as he turned his sociable grin up on him, pushing the torn gi up into the man's face. "Here, look!"

The man winced terribly and took a step back, almost as if the sheer burnt smell from it made him near gag and vomit. Link's grin fairly quickly dropped as he re-lowered the gi, quizzical and unsure, eliciting a half-annoyed sigh from the watching Alwyn.

"Here, I'll do this," Zelda shot over at him, matter-of-factly and all as she yanked the torn gi and belt from his grip, surprising him. "Watch this." The confidently-spoken princess began before she marched forward to stand in front of the newly-recovered nameless shopman before her. Link's frown soon upturned into a single narrowed eye of confusion and curiosity as he watched her quietly negotiate and bargain with the man-of-similar-background.

"You could stand to be a bit more like her, y'know."

The listening Hero of Time furrowed his brow as he swung his blonde-haired head 'round to face the similarly-faced Zoran behind him. "Say wha-?"

Alwyn nodded his sea-shaded head in the smiling princess' direction, re-folding his arms as he always liked to. "She may not be fighters, like us, but she really knows how to negotiate and mediate; girl can really handle herself like this," he complimented her with quietly, frowning on as he did. Link cast his curious blink on the girl behind him, frowning on as he normally did. "I imagine you'd both make a good team... if you'd just let her lead you." The former soldier finished, this time in a noticeably-amused small smirk, drawing the annoyed boy's attention.

"You sayin' I can't lead?" The Hylian shot back in his own light grin, edging another of his many overconfident thumbs to his green-clothed chest. "I led journeys all by myself! Twice!"

Alwyn chuckled on, amused. "There's a noticeable difference on journeying by yourself and with a full party in tow," the Zoran explained briefly, drawing a half-annoyed huff from the boy. "I can see her turning into a fine leader one day," he began again, casting his impressed frown up on the smiling and talking Zelda above them. Link briefly traced his gaze before re-facing the man again. "Whether you want to follow behind her in the end... is up to you." The soldier finished again in a light tilt of his head and concise rise of his eyebrows.

The curious Hylian tilted his own head to the side before re-gaining the thoughtful smirk on his face.

"Yeah...," he began silently, eyes lightly narrowing. "Maybe."

When he heard the girl huff, seemingly in effort as she re-joined the group behind him, he turned 'round again to face her in a new query-filled frown.

"All right...," she began, sighing out lightly as she handed the youth back his torn battle-wear. "He's agreed to go make you the replacement karate uniform; I had to explain exactly what it was first," the princess grinned toward the end of her speech, drawing a listening chuckle from him. "Just like you asked he'll replace the belt into the upgrade Impa wants for you; a yellow belt."

"Awesome!" He grinned back exuberantly.

"Oh... and his name's Spiros," the girl began her sentence in a reminiscent open-mouthed frown before soon re-gaining her usual smile. "Call him that."

"Thanks Zel," the blonde boy chuckled, a sheepish kind of smile on his face as he rested his hands behind the back of his head. "I guess I owe ya after all."

She shook her similarly-haired head and smiled back at him. "Buy me a sweet or something and we'll call it even."

Link rolled his sky-blue eyes in response, the ghost of an amused smirk still strong on his countenance. "Yes mistress."

Zelda couldn't help but giggle, drawing a tired sigh from the listening Alwyn.

–

2

"Excuse me!"

Barkner grunted in for what felt like the umpteenth time as another passer-by bumped into him; surprised, he turned his rocky-bodied head 'round in swift search for the young woman that apologised over her shoulder, eliciting a tired sigh from the Goron.

"This place is busier than I heard, like damn," the man cursed out in a deft shake of his head, frowning on in surprise as he did. "Everyone's packed in all together like barrelled food!"

"Just stay close to us and you'll be fine," the frowning-faced Impa ordered the Goron, ever in her business-like contralto. "The last thing we need is someone separating from us..."

"What is it we're looking for again Impa?" The similarly-expressed Malon questioned the Sheikah next to her in a curious-toned frown of her own, hands gripping the straps of her rucksack.

"One of the many lodges or inns hereabout; we're going to be staying in this city more than a single night, after all," she explained briefly, swinging her ruby-red gaze 'round in swift search. Her eyes double-took to her top-right and she at last let a satisfied smile grace her complexion as she caught sight of what she was seemingly looking for. "There it is."

Barkner and Malon traced the woman's gaze only to find one of the many business hardwood signs hanging out by chains, marked only by a couple of words in Aurelian text.

'The Sorcerer's Superstation'

Barkner exchanged an unsure shrug with the similarly doubtful Malon but the two nevertheless followed their dutiful leader as she marched toward the oak door ahead of them. Just as with many of the other buildings and merchant shops, a small bell rang out as the three heroes stepped through; something they noted quietly to themselves as they walked into the warm and jolly atmosphere. They stepped between two large pillars that carried two similarly tall tapestries, lavish and all; although the ever-frowning Impa walked on by as if she had seen them before, the surprised Malon and Barkner both examined them briefly as they walked with her.

They appeared to depict an old silver-haired man with a likewise silver-shaded beard; he held his two hands upward, both on opposite sides of one another, each hand's index and forefinger both raised up. The rest of his digits, however, appeared to be pulled within. The nameless man's appearance was drawn with what appeared to be an angelic-like background; something that resembled religious etchings and drawings.

Music from what sounded like a flute played off in the far-right corner of the room; as the three turned their heads in search of it, they clocked what appeared to be an entertainer standing on stage playing through a rather jaunty tune on his flute, dressed in appropriately showy clothes. People littered the hardwood seats and tables below the stage, directing their applause toward the bowing young man.

"I feel like I've been in here before...," Barkner murmured out doubtfully, eyes narrowing at the stage ahead before eventually turning again to survey the rest of the inn on his immediate left. A single table decorated with a rug underneath and four chairs 'round it sat a few yards away, close-by to a dark-green shaded door. "Even the name of it sounds familiar."

"That's probably because you have," Impa answered in a confidently-spoken smirk of her own as she turned briefly to face the Goron. "The Sorcerer's Superstation is a chain of inns all around Aurelia; their main one is in Hyrule Castletown and have been going since ancient times."

"That's correct!"

The trio swung their heads, Malon and Barkner surprised as they exchanged their frowns with the sociable smile on what appeared to be the innkeeper across from them; he stood behind a long and sturdy hardwood desk littered with fruit and vegetables, all seemingly fresh, as he re-opened his mouth to continue.

"The Sorcerer's Superstation is one of our grand continent's most successful and longest-running series of inns," the nameless man smiled on. "First established in year one ACD by the Sorcerer himself, we have carried on his old tradition of helping our fellow Aurelians and Hylians on the road." The man explained briefly, smiling on sociably as he did.

Barkner blinked back. "ACD?" He parroted, unsure.

The man chuckled well-naturedly, scratching the side of his head awkwardly. "'After the Continental Divide'," he explained concisely. "It's a point in time we use in our official Aurelian calendars."

"Just like in the original stories we were told huh..." Malon murmured out as she hovered her sky-blue eyes 'round in search of the tavern they stood in.

"Ah but they are not mere stories young lady!" The inn's manager smiled back at her as he joined his hands diagonally together in a soft-sounding clap. "They actually happened! After all... the Sorcerer of the Divine Divide is the only reason we even exist!"

Malon resisted the urge to roll her eyes in impatience but nodded her fire-haired head in silent and polite reply.

"Wondered why I recognised the name of this place...," Barkner murmured out, drawing his light-blue eyed gaze 'round the large fireplace to his far-left and the two chairs that sat 'round it. Propped above the roaring fire was another depiction of the silver-haired Sorcerer from the story books in the same posture as depicted within the tapestries. "I must have been in the big one in Hyrule Castletown."

"Yes our main branch is located there!" The man smiled on. "We're all friendly to Hylians here."

Realising that was precisely why Impa picked this particular inn, Malon swung her surprised look on the rarely-grinning form of their leader, genuinely impressed with her wealth of knowledge.

She really thought of everything, the little farm girl thought to herself.

"It would be... miss Impa of the royal family, yes?" The man began again, clapping his hands softly in re-greeting. The Sheikah woman nodded gratefully, her smirk soon lowered into a sociable smile she saved for situations such as these.

"Yes...," she answered. "We're missing three of our party including our princess; rounding us up to six."

"Ahhh... gone sight-seeing I take it?" The man chuckled, drawing a smirking chortle from the Sheikah as she re-opened her mouth to respond.

"Something like that."

"In any case... my name is Symond and we here at the Sorcerer's Superstation officially bid you all a warm welcome," the sociable man smiled on in a third softened clap of his hands, drawing similar smiles from the half-way exchanging Barkner and Malon. "As you can see most of us here, regardless of race, carry no anti-Hylian sentiment here," the newly-introduced Symond chuckled on well-naturedly. "Have no fear."

"We're grateful for that," Impa nodded in her own smile. "I was worried we'd inevitably come into some of it with so many Hylians travelling with us."

"Yes it's never been safe for them in these parts, even today as shameful as that is to admit," the man frowned out this time in regret-laced baritone. "At any rate... thank you as ever for contacting ahead and paying in advance... here are your room keys...," he began again, regaining his smile as he reached behind him to pluck the said keys from an oak rack lying on the wall. "I believe some of you are sharing, yes?" Symond smiled on as he turned back 'round to face the group.

Malon's auburn-haired eyebrows shot up in realisation and surprise before her aqua-shaded eyes wandered away in sin-driven rumination.

Maybe I can share my room with Link, she thought.

"That's correct; thank you," the Sheikah leader smiled back, nodding as she gratefully accepted the beautiful-brass keys. "It's been a long day so I imagine the rest of our party will be glad to hit the hay as soon as possible."

"I understand," Symond chortled on, amused as he stood back to attention, hands softly joined together. "I know it can be particularly trying to travel, especially if one isn't used to the effort," he smiled. "In any case... I'll leave you all to enjoy the rest of the night shall I? Please don't hesitate to join in on the entertainment!" He spoke out passionately, gesturing toward the flute-playing performance to the group's right.

Impa laughed awkwardly, nodding on in response. "Thanks... we appreciate it."

As Symond walked off, presumably to attend to some other kind of business, the frowning Malon and smiling Barkner waited on for their leader to turn and face them.

"All right... I know exactly what you're both thinking and no," the Sheikah began, even as she swung her authoritative form 'round to frown back at them both. "We're staying in pairings that I approve of."

Malon rolled her eyes and inwardly sighed, merely eliciting an amused smirking chuckle from the ever-jolly Barkner.

"Barkner, you're with Link," Impa continued on as she handed the nodding Goron his brass-shaded key. "Malon, I'm pairing you with Zelda."

"Oh joy." The farm girl sarcastically droned out, her eyes rolling up as she accepted the key. Impa watched her for a second, as if suspicious before regaining her old business-like frown.

"Alwyn and I can bunk up together." She finished outwith, frowning as always. Barkner rose a curious eyebrow, his grin rarely gone from his face and he exchanged a look with the half-annoyed frown on Malon's face however, expecting a response.

"Hey!" The young Hylian called out, brow furrowing as she placed her slim hands to rest on her hips as if insulted. "You've intentionally paired the rest of us together with the same genders and clearly ignored yourself!" The indignant little girl called out, clearly annoyed. "What do you have to say about that, huh?"

Impa exchanged a quick smirk with the grinning-faced Barkner before she re-faced the heavily-frowning Malon below her. "I'd say Alwyn and I are fairly miserable enough in our older age to keep our hands to ourselves... that's what I have to say about that." The Sheikah shot back.

Malon huffed in her irritated frown, shooting her fire-haired head away from her leader's, slim arms folded as she briefly stomped the ground in childish indignation. The act, and subsequently the conversation itself, managed to draw a burst-out laugh from the listening Barkner; something that called a few eyes from the entertainment side of the room.

"Y-You there! Travellers!"

The group, surprised, swung their heads 'round only to find a gasping man rushing toward them. Unlike most of the boarders in the lodge, this man was dressed rather shabbily and stained to match; dust and smoke covered the worker overalls he wore so casually.

"Y-You look like you can fight, c-can't you?!" The man exclaimed, his gasps erratic and his demeanour flustered.

"Calm down," the frowning-faced Impa responded firmly, brow furrowing down at the chubby man. "You won't solve anything by throwing yourself into a panic," she informed the man, as if she were speaking to a soldier. She folded her arms as the man began to settle his nerves and take in a few deep breaths. "Now... what's the problem?" She pressed him curiously, drawing a surprised look from the similarly-faced Malon and Barkner.

"It's terrible; the mayor, he's-!"

DRING...

The group swung their heads 'round, their attention gained by the door's small bell, only to find the blinking-faced Link staring back at them, the frowning Alwyn and Zelda towing along behind him.

"Hey guys, what's...?" The blonde began curiously, eyebrow rising up as he took a few steps into the lodge, exchanging looks between his other three companions as well as the new presence standing before him. "Goin' on...?"

"T-That sword...!" The nameless chubby man hissed out, eyes widened as he leaned down to the boy's level. "Are you an adventurer boy?!"

"U-Uh... y-yeah... I guess I am...," Link chuckled back nervously, stepping back from his overly-enthusiastic form, drawing a light smirk from the watching Zelda behind him. "Why, what's wrong?"

"We had an accident down in the Greymont Mines; someone ambushed us!" The man exclaimed out hurriedly, tears near stinging at his eyes. "The mayor of the city himself was visiting us at the time and I'm the only one that even got out!" He called out, ending his sentence in a blubbering mess. The watching Link couldn't help but wince as he pulled back his form lightly from the nameless man; he exchanged his cringing shrug with the listening Zelda and she shook her head in response.

"What about the city guard?" Impa pressed forward, arms still ever folded. "Surely they have soldiers going in for him?"

"Y-Yes!" The chubby man exclaimed out, pulling his head out of his hands for a brief moment as he re-faced the Sheikah on his right, eyes widened. "They sent in a few units to bring any survivors out... but that was hours ago! And no-one's seen hide nor hair of anyone that's gone in since I got out!"

The frowning-faced Impa exchanged her half-suspicious frown with the similarly nodding and folded-armed Alwyn before eventually she re-faced the man.

"What's your name sir?"

Her question, so abrupt and surprising, managed to take him off guard; he blinked for just a second before answering.

"I-It's Paul!"

"All right Paul, give us a minute will you?" The Sheikah asked, frowning on as she normally did. "I'd rather we discuss this first before taking any possible course of action as a response."

"O-Of course; f-forgive me!"

As the man scampered off presumably to sit by the fire on their left, the group all reconvened together, frowning as before.

"What do we think?" Impa pressed them, folded-armed as always. "I want to hear from everyone here."

"I feel sorry for him," Malon spoke up first, casting her blue-eyed gaze over at the sad-eyed man facing the fire ahead of them. "And honestly sorry for anyone else stuck in that place."

"Wouldn't it be morally wrong to just leave those people?" Zelda began, ever the voice of reason. "I mean if what sir Paul says is true, then even the soldiers are getting outclassed down there."

"Which inevitably means they're dealing with an infestation of some kind; a goddess-damned monster or something or worse; an invasion," Alwyn agreed on with the young girl in a hardened frown, arms similarly folded to their leader. He shook his sea-shaded head in disapproval. "I'm opposed to this; we have no idea what's in those mines."

"Come on Al you don't mean that," Barkner spoke up, gently nudging the hardy Zoran next to him. "What if it was us trapped down there?"

"There's no way we'd-"

"Ever be stupid enough to even be in that position!" The grinning-faced Link finished for his soldier companion, arms folded and his tenor voice deepened comically to match the taller man's. He cast his grin up to face the man, eyebrow rising up as he did. "Right?" He batted back, drawing a half-smirk from the listening Zoran.

"All I'm saying... is we'd be risking a lot going down there," he claimed, turning his head back up to face their Sheikah leader. "What about the next Deadly Frenzy series? The Palashia Premier; doesn't that start tomorrow?"

Impa shook her head in response. "No," she answered. "We're here a few days early; we have time on our side."

"That settles it!"

All eyes drew down to their exuberant blonde-haired companion; he dropped his white duffel bag and placed his hands on his hips demandingly.

"We go down to those mines and help those scrubs!" The former Hero of Time grinned back at the group. Alwyn frowned on disapprovingly as everyone else reacted in their own way; Barkner's folded-armed chuckle drew a similar giggle from the listening Zelda, marked only by the smirking-faced rolling-eyed groan on Malon.

"That's four to two I'm afraid," Impa at last conceded in a light sigh as she tilted her silver-shaded head in disappointment. "All right everyone; we'll drop off our extra gear in our rooms and head on out as soon as possible. Time is of the essence; come on." The Sheikah urged on as she turned toward the large green-shaded oak door behind them at the top-left end of the lobby; presumably the entrance to the rooms above.

As the group all followed, bringing their rucksacks and other equipment with them, only the grinning Link stopped mid-march, his attention suddenly grabbed by one of the many tapestries hanging on the pillar ahead. The art depicted before him showed him the shadow within time did not; a long silver-haired man stood back staring at him in the familiar pose he recognised. His two hands rose up, index and forefinger only, on opposite sides of one another, his body dressed in what appeared to be sage-like robes.

His oceanic eyes widened in a mixture of shock and recognition, his mind and memories going back to his journey through Termina.

"Let's talk... Link Firbrand."

"Link, what are you doing?!"

The sound of Malon's annoyed soprano dragged him aggressively out of his reminiscing and he held back a gasp as he felt her grasp at his right wrist to pull him alongside her.

"We're gonna be late!" She exclaimed over her shoulder as she rushed to keep up with the fast-disappearing group.

Link turned his head backward as he ran alongside her, his mind still fixated on the hardened frown the Sorcerer's form stared back at him with and the last words he remembered him speaking.

"I and the Sainted Three... will always be watching you... my son."


	10. Memorable Malice; a Rescue Mission Laced with Danger

Chapter 10: Memorable Malice; a Rescue Mission Laced with Danger  
Path to Palashia's Premier Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst The World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Ultramarine Deep" - YS VI: The Ark of Napishtim OST. Scene 1 (First & Second Half).  
"Those Who Fight Further" - Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).  
"Factory City of Zeiss" - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC OST. Scene 3 (Second Half).

\--

Having just barely been robbed of his first-place victory in a titanically-explosive battle in the Hylian Hyrax tournament, Link fairly quickly licks through his wounds and decides to join the Prima World Tour; a martial arts tournament that tours 'round the continent of Aurelia in national play-offs before eventually culminating in the world championships themselves. In securing second place, at the very least he has a five-hundred point head-start on every other fighter, including his old rival and the boy that he once fought with in the ruined timeline in which he came from.

Raynard Van Garrick.

As they exchange their farewells and 'good games' with one another, however, the group follow their leader Impa to a nearby waterfall at Hylashia Road; a beautiful landmark teeming with wildlife and incredible sights. While there the group regain their strength as Impa puts the ever overconfident Link through his paces; their training bears fruit in the little lessons of 'okizeme' and patient fighting.

Something the brazen blonde youth could learn a thing or two about.

As they enter the lands of Palashia themselves, a metropolis known for its richness and beauty, the group are shocked by the size of the spire-like houses and businesses therein. The city is a perfect municipality fit only for those with the right Rupees; a fact that Impa lets the heroes in on as many Hylians and Aurelians spend their retirement there. Surprisingly, however, they also learn of injustices within Hylian history that have been conveniently omitted; when the Hylian members of their group begin to receive dirty looks and are treated shoddily, it is the knowledgeable Alwyn that explains what is missing.

In ancient history, before the 'Continental Divide', the entire world itself was once governed and led by the Hyrulean Royal Family themselves. During the old days, Aurelians such as the Gerudian people or the Palashians, were contracted and essentially enslaved; horrific lives that have echoed into the future via their surviving relatives. Although the poor Link, Zelda and Malon have done little wrong with their short lives, the surrounding Aurelians all blame them regardless simply for their telltale pointed ears; the signature of a Hylian.

Thinking ahead however Impa decides to utilise a chain inn by the name of 'The Sorcerer's Superstation'; a lodge that has existed since ancient times itself, once said to have been opened by the legendary figure himself in year one ACD (After the Continental Divide), the Sorcerer of the Divine Divide as a way of helping fellow Aurelians and Hylians on their travels throughout the continent of Aurelia. Thanks to the chain generally having no anti-Hylian sentiment, Impa has essentially managed to secure the children's safety; a crafty manoeuvre to fit the wily-minded Sheikah.

While there unfortunately they are approached by a nearby man by name of Paul claiming to have come from the 'Greymont Mines'; a mining area to the south of Palashia's main city of 'Rocknesse'. He explains desperately that his team, and the city's mayor, have all gone missing; an ambush that had apparently been planned for the visiting mayor and the people working within. Fear of the unknown does little to deter most of the heroes however and, with four votes to two, they all proceed under the well-held leadership of their advisor Impa to Greymont Mines.

On the way there the travelling Link can't help but draw connections to the missing Scaverin and the ambushes, however.

A fact that troubles him...

\--

Scene 1

When the heroes arrived it was an unsurprisingly sparse location; only a single soldier stood at the edge of the entrance itself, geared out as if for war and dressed as if he were the commander. As the group all approached, led by Impa as always, the soldier stepped forward and issued forward his free left open palm as if to stop them in their march.

"Stop right there!" He called out, eyes narrowed beneath his white-shaded helm. "The Greymont Mines are off limits to civilians!"

"We came as a response to one of your mine's employees," Impa responded, calm as always in her frowning-faced contralto. "Apparently you require assistance?"

The soldier snorted in response, as if he were insulted. "We can handle this!"

"Seems to me like you're strugglin'." The grinning-faced Link shot back from behind her, rising his small arms up to rest behind his blonde-haired head, drawing a twitching scowl from the man.

"Regardless of your reasons this could be considered treason from one Aurelian country to another!" The commander called back angrily. "Now step back Hylian! We have no need for outsiders!"

"What about Gorons?"

The deep-voiced Barkner's rumble made the soldier turn his surprised frown up to face the large-bodied Goron himself, rising an eyebrow down at his smaller human form.

"And Zorans," the contrastingly frowning-faced Alwyn spoke up alongside his younger companion, placing a slim hand on his hip as he narrowed his eyes forward. "I understand we're essentially civilians as far as our position comes within this country... but don't make the same mistake in thinking we're not as skilled as you are either."

The man grunted out in annoyance, eyes narrowing beneath his helm. "What do you know of this? Hm?!" He called over. "This is a suspicious enough situation as it is! Our city's mayor has been taken hostage; I can do nothing from here!"

"Hostage?" Impa batted back, fire-red eyes narrowed curiously. "By whom?"

"We have no id- why in the holy name of the Sorcerer am I telling you any of this?!" The soldier exclaimed out frustratedly, shaking his head. "Begone civilians! We have no need!"

"I think you should accept any help you damn well get!" Malon bounced back angrily, placing her hands on her hips to display it. The listening Link couldn't help but wince as he stood next to her, drawing an amused chuckle from the watching Barkner. "When your back is against a wall and you have no options left, what else is there to do?!" She insisted passionately.

The soldier re-opened his mouth in his scowl, perhaps ready to shout back a series of insults in anger, before he at last sighed and shut his eyes. He re-opened them again to speak, calm in contrast. "All right... fine...," he conceded finally, shaking his head morbidly in response. The group exchanged victorious smiles as they marched toward him to close the distance. "There's a group of fiends within that have already managed to take hold of the last unit I sent in there," he began in explanation, frowning on as if he were speaking to new recruits. "They appeared suddenly, as if all-at-once; it makes no sense."

"How many?" Impa pressed him in a hardened narrow of her fiery red eyes.

"We're not sure," the soldier shook his head again. "It could be as many as a small army for all we know but it was easily enough to overwhelm a five-man battalion."

"Daaamn," the listening Barkner winced before he soon regained his enthusiastic grin and slamming his fist into an open palm. "More to wipe up then!"

"So what's the plan boss?" The ever-enthusiastic Link spoke as he flipped his head up to cast his ardent grin up toward the tall Sheikah above him.

She narrowed her eyes into the darkness of the unknown mine entrance before them before re-opening her own mouth to respond. "Four of us go in separately I think," she began turning to eye the members of the group. "Link, you're with me; we go in first."

"Can do!" The keen young Hylian nodded obediently, pumping a confident back-fist up at her in response.

"Alwyn, Barkner; you two follow us in, in a five minute interval, got it?" The Sheikah continued on, her brow furrowed on as she did. Alwyn nodded in response to her, as if she were his military commander, drawing a similarly-enthusiastic grin from the listening Barkner. He pumped up a rocky-bodied fist of his own and showed off his muscle, as if by way of agreement somehow.

Impa, of course, rolled her eyes but she chose to keep the small smile that they managed to get from her.

"Impa... what should we do?"

The Sheikah turned her curious-eyed head down to find the frowning Zelda and Malon staring up back at her and she soon regained her hardened business-like frown.

"Tend to any wounded we rescue," she ordered, drawing nods from the two children. "And, Zelda, be ready with that Aegir Art... just in case."

Knowing exactly what she was talking about, the frowning-faced princess bowed dutifully as she nodded in agreement. "Yes, of course."

"All right then, everyone fully briefed?" The Sheikah began in her hardened contralto, drawing nods from each and every member. "Then let's get going!"

~

Link grinned on in exuberance as he knocked his Mirror Shield roughly against the squeaking Keese that so aggressively charged at him before side-stepping gracefully to his right, giving the glaring-faced Impa room with which to spin 'round his own form and issue out a wide sweeping roundhouse. The squealing Lizalfos that attempted to strike at the retreating Link was thus slammed savagely across its face, sending it and its weapon tailspinning into the air ruthlessly before landing noisily, its lizard-like form burning up in the signature green-shaded fire that was so memorable of it.

CLANNNNG

As its small-sword knocked noisily against the ground the two heroes turned their contrasting expressions around them into the far-off darkness that they had surrounded themselves in. Link relaxed his stance and lowered the Gilded Sword he carried lightly as Impa relaxed her own into a firmly-frowning position. She reached up with her open-palmed left hand and narrowed her ruby-red gaze forward carefully as she blew on it.

Link watched on expectantly as his mentor brightened up the otherwise shadowy depths they stood in, the Aegir in her palm the catalyst. She reached up and placed the tiny orb of Quintessence on the crown of her head, as if to wear as a hat for a passive buff before turning to face the blonde boy.

"I don't like this," she admitted in her firmly-held frown. "The last time we saw Lizalfos like these was when..."

"I know," Link replied in a grinning-faced rolling of his oceanic-eyed gaze, leaning to his left as he utilised the Gilded Sword as a kick-stand; by stabbing its double-edged hilt directly into the soil below, he hung up casually, folding his arms back at her as he did. "You're worried it's Ganondorf again."

She winced lightly. "Not quite," she admitted. "Last I checked he's ruining the floors of our cells back in Hyrule Castle."

"So...," Link began again curiously, losing his sociable grin in place of a curious-faced frown, his brow furrowing as he leaned his small frame off the hilt of his sword. "You think it's one of his...?"

"Followers, maybe, yeah," the Sheikah elucidated on, nodding her silver-haired head as she did. "He was fairly charismatic, after all, lest we forget."

"I mean there was one," Link mused aloud in his own frown, re-folding his arms as he briefly lowered his eyes in thought before swiftly re-raising them to face her. "Do you remember his name?"

"Scaverin!"

The pair, surprised by the voice's interruption, swung their heads 'round, their senses on immediate alert. Link swiftly drew the Gilded Sword from his carefully-chosen resting place and narrowed his oceanic-eyed gaze forward through the darkness before them and the frowning Impa glared on as she re-opened her mouth.

"Who's there?!" She called out demandingly. "Identify yourself!"

"I-It's okay! I'm a friend, I promise!"

The frowning Link found himself exchanging a quizzical blink with his likewise unsure mentor before they re-faced the front.

"In here; I'm in here!"

The pair stepped closer toward the source of the baritone and, as they did, they found themselves within what seemed like a storeroom. Link cast his curious-eyed gaze 'round the many barrels of ore and minerals and collection of timber hanging on hardwood shelves to their left. As he turned his straw-haired head forward he found the cowering form of what looked like a small statured man, wearing fairly common clothing akin to miners.

"Y-You wouldn't happen to have brought those creatures with you, would you?" The miner asked worriedly, briefly wincing as he spoke. Link chuckled well-naturedly as he shook his head in response, placing a hand to rest on his green-clothed hip as he did.

"Nah," he answered. "We've already killed quite a few on our way here, actually," he began again, drawing a surprised and pleased smile from middle-aged man. "You one of the miner guys I take it?"

"Oh, thank the Sainted...," the man sighed out, concisely lowering and shutting his eyes before soon re-opening them to face the two. "You're here to rescue me, aren't you? I'm Nikos!"

"That's correct; I'm Impa and this is Link," Impa nodded, folding her arms as she always liked to, gesturing toward the grinning and waving youth on her lower-left. "Where's your companions? How many more of you are there and what happened to the soldiers that came in after you all?"

"They're all dead...," the newly-introduced Nikos moaned in a saddened cringe, joining his hands together as if to pray for them. "I watched them with my own eyes..."

"Which ones, the soldiers?"

"Y-Yes...," Nikos murmured out. "T-They didn't stand a chance..."

"What about the other miner guys?" Link pressed the man curiously, his frown regained. "Are they okay?"

"I-I don't know...," Nikos murmured out again, shaking his head as he suppressed back an audible sniff of sorrow. "I haven't seen them since we got separated; there was a huge lumbering beast that blew apart a large portion of the mine itself. We have no idea how it even got in!" He insisted, shaking his head like a madman, wincing on as he did. "It just suddenly appeared, as if from nowhere!"

Impa exchanged a knowing nod with the unusually-frowning Link before they re-faced the Palashian. "Where, exactly, did it appear... if you can remember?"

Nikos gulped down a load of nervous-gained saliva before nodding gravely and turning, presumably to lead the pair. When they reached what appeared to be a staircase leading down, the small statured man pointed directly down it, nodding toward it.

"Down there," he insisted. "If my friends and that goddess-forsaken monstrosity are anywhere... it's down there," he repeated before turning to re-faced the two. "If you're smart you'll escape with me. You can't fight that thing; it's not of this world."

"Thanks for the concern but I reckon we'll be fine," the ever-confident Link batted back, folding his arms as he did. "This ain't our first time."

"If you come back the way we came you'll bump into a Goron and a Zoran by names of 'Barkner' and 'Alwyn'," Impa quickly informed the small man, frowning on as she did. "They'll be making one last sweep of the mines to ensure all traces of fiends are eliminated."

"W-Who are you people...?" Nikos murmured out, eyes widened. "How can you still be sane and want to go down there...?!"

Link flashed his telltale grin back at the man as he responded. "We're the heroes my man! But only those that show up at the last minute!"

–

2

Having entered what seemed to be another storeroom located below the mine itself, the two heroes cast their curious-eyed gazes 'round the darkened corners just waiting to surprise them both. Thanks to the powerful light of Impa's Aegir, however, their position was secured and unlikely to receive any assaults or ambushes unwary.

"There's definitely something down here... I can feel it," Impa spoke up in a quietened but firmly-held frown, red eyes narrowing as she did. "Show yourself!"

A figure stepped forth from the darkness of the wide berth around them and a familiar one at that; as Impa's brow furrowed in suspicion the wide-eyed Link's frown quickly upturned into an excited open-mouthed grin.

"Ray!"

Sure enough, it was him; the winner of the previous Deadly Frenzy tournament and the national championship of Hyrule itself. The anti-social black-haired boy of Hylian origin stood frowning back at them, folded-armed as always; Raynard Van Garrick. Dressed as always in his weathered brown tunic, boots and tattered cape, he cast the pair a curious look and rose one of his raven-shaded eyebrows at them.

"What the hell are you two doing in here?" The young mercenary questioned, unfolding his arms as he stepped forward to join them. "The Palashian tournament ain't for another couple days and it ain't in here."

"That's my line," the suspiciously-eyed Sheikah spoke serrated, her brow furrowing forward through the flavouring of her firmly-frowning words. "Link, Alwyn, Barkner and I are all here to help the city out due to an infestation of monsters. I don't see why you should be any-"

"Come on Impa-sensei, lay off him," the grinning Link spoke up for his rival, stepping forward as he cast the surprised Sheikah a brief glance. Raynard rose a similarly curious-eyed eyebrow up as he watched the blonde step toward him. "I'm sure he's here for a perfectly reasonable reason!"

"Contract," the boy stipulated fairly quickly with, ever in his likewise business-like frown, unfolding his arms as he re-faced the suspicious Sheikah before him. "I was told there'd be work here for me."

"What kind of work?" Impa pressed him curiously, a single eye narrowing in scrutiny.

DROOM-CRASSSHHHH...

The group swung their heads 'round toward the source of the sudden and abrupt noise, glaring-faced and all. As the rest of what seemed to be the surrounding shelves blow apart from the mild explosion that sounded, so too was the cause at last revealed; a fearsome ebony Wolfos turned its snout to the ceiling and roared animalistically. The creature's blood-red eyes, a feature that would normally send chills down adventurer's spines, merely emboldened the grinning-faced Link and the scowling Raynard.

The young mercenary reached behind him and spun the huge steel halberd he normally sported so well in an expert twirl, glaring forward as he stood next to the party, apparently joining forces with them.

"That kind." He answered the Sheikah, drawing a half-smirk from the listening Link on his left.

~

RRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR

"Scatter!"

On command, the three adventurers shot in opposite ends of each other; Impa to the ceiling, Link to his sharp-left and Raynard to his right. Just as the Sheikah was concerned about, however, the giant Wolfos widened its beady blood-red eyes as it sent forth a huge paw to smash down on their original position. As expected, the ground exploded up in a beautiful show of rocks and debris. The glaring-faced Raynard darted across one of the still-standing shelves on the right, twirling his steel halberd before widening his eyes and leaping up high into the air.

The Wolfos, its eyes desperately watching the quickened forms of Impa and Link double-took in the high-flying Raynard's direction before it widened them, glaring back at the black-haired boy. It was only then, however that as its left pawed fist came careering to catch him in mid-air, it howled out in agony as the firmly-frowning Impa and grinning Link peppered its legs with slashes via their respective knife and sword.

CRRRRACK

HHHOWWWWLLL

Its attention having been successfully diverted by the two heroes beneath it, the gargantuan Wolfos cried to the heavens in sheer agony as the wide-eyed Raynard stuck the blade end of his halberd deep into its skull. Inevitably it swung its claws 'round its crown to madly swipe and assault the boy; he growled back in response as he shut one eye in brief concentration, darting his spiky-haired head out the way of each attempt before finally regaining command of his weapon in a sickening squelch.

CRRRRRRRACK

The Wolfos screamed in anguish again as the grunting Van Garrick short-hopped off the creature's crown, leaving it bloody-headed and blindly swiping up at the air after his fast-retreating form. Angered by the peppering it received below itself however, the Wolfos growled and roared a third time as it stomped its legs rather primally, channelling its beast-like Aegir to cause ripples and sheer earthquakes within the ground. Impa gasped as she landed on one of the broken shelves the creature destroyed earlier, her footing near dropping as it shook.

"We have to finish this quickly!" The Sheikah called out in an unusually-loud exclamation of desperation, ruby-red eyes narrowing in her grit-toothed scowl. "The mines will cave in and kill anyone else remaining in here!"

"I can do quick!" The grinning-faced Link shot out from below her, staring up at the blood-red eyes of his much larger enemy, his Kokiri-clothed body leant to the side as he spoke. "Watch this!"

FWIP

The air gave out a tiny little gasp; the only indication that the young Hylian had moved as his form almost completely disappeared from common view. Able to follow his lightning-quick manoeuvre, Impa and Raynard narrowed their eyes and darted around the room as the blonde-haired boy deftly shot around the room, his body knocking against each wall in acrobatic wall-kicks. The Wolfos was barely able to keep up, satanic eyes widened as it howled and bellowed in its wild-swiped assaults, never finding its mark.

Raynard landed on one of the debris-filled shelves and glared on as he watched his straw-haired rival zip 'round the mines, slashing and swiping at the yelping jackal, his Gilded Sword filled with his signature element of fire.

"He's already faster than when we fought two days ago..."

The anti-social boy's doubtful ruminations were spiced only with a half-appreciative upturn into an amused smirk; perhaps at the thought of a challenge, Raynard carried his grin into the air with an acrobatic somersault of his own, halberd in hand. Impa double-took in his direction, her eyebrows rising up to match the shock she registered with her eyes.

"Raynard, no!" She called out.

But by then, it was far too late; the impertinent youth had already committed to his assault.

Sure enough, almost as if it were reading the very mind of the shouting Sheikah herself, the nameless black Wolfos swung its large head in its attacker's direction before widening its hellfire-red eyes and howling forward, utilising its huge clawed paws alongside it. In response the gasping Raynard found his plunging attack halted dead-centre in mid-air; his tree-shaded eyes widened and, realising the gargantuan Wolfos had somehow tricked him, he found he couldn't move even his limbs. He darted his horrified eyes in search of the cause and clocked the powerful Quintessence that the Wolfos had utilised; seemingly a commanding invisible prison applied with its intimidating glare.

A fatal mistake and one too many.

Raynard's eyes twitched in his terrified scowl as he hung in mid-air; unable to move, he could only watch as the Wolfos pulled back its right paw with which to attack. Even as the gasping Link landed from his last pass and he attempted to interrupt the beast, the Wolfos merely used its free paw to slap the yelling youth back whence he came into a tailspinning retreat.

"Is this how it ends...?"

Raynard's frightened meditation was one that reflected the regret laced through his great dread; something the cape-wearing boy at last came to terms with. As he slowly shut his eyes in silent defeat, he waited for the growling Wolfos to end his life.

KRRRR...

DROOM-BROOM

SWISH-HOWWWL

The watching Impa and Link widened their eyes in similarly-held shock when they found the hulking beast retreating its arm in howling pain; when they swung their eyes in search of the cause, they found a pair of Zoran fins flying through the air, having previously struck the Wolfos in its pass, and a large wall of earthen material.

Presumably it was a shield of some kind.

The head-shaking Link, realising who they both belonged to, cast his grateful grin directly below him in a friendly salute.

The likewise-faced Barkner stood in a low-held position; his two rocky-bodied arms gripping at the ground below him, presumably to craft the earthen shield that saved Raynard's life, as he turned his Goron head up to face the Hylian.

"Sorry we're late!" He called up, ever exuberantly.

The grunting Alwyn dropped his comparatively slim form next to the sighing Impa, raising up his forearms to catch his boomerang-like fins with. The Zoran nodded his head twice; both in the respecting Impa's direction and the ever-grinning Link's.

"Took ya both long enough!" The audacious Hero of Time shot over to the well-known pair, his arms folded as he did. "One second later and I'd have had to stop playin' around to save Ray!"

Listening in on the conversation, and released from his torment from the Wolfos by now, the narrow-eyed Raynard's deeply-disapproving frown fairly quickly morphed into an angered scowl, his pride having been damaged by the encounter.

RRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRR

The deep guttural bellow that rent the air managed to shock-awake the rest of the standing fighters. They tensed their senses together and readied themselves only to find the wide-eyed Wolfos pressing its assault down on the closest available foe; the narrow-eyed Barkner below it. As it shot down to slam its clawed legs and paws down in attack, the firmly-frowning Goron shot up his earthen-blessed fists to block and parry the strikes in an amazing defensive display that left the watching heroes in reverent grins and frowns.

"All right!" The excited Link called out, pumping a morale-filled fist up to embolden his comrade before leaping off the debris-filled rafter he stood on, presumably to give chase.

As the Wolfos sent its left fist careering down in one final assault, Barkner widened his chestnut-brown eyes and grappled with it. Having obviously seen the attack coming he responded with an effective and powerful reversal that saw him pulling the gargantuan creature's form over his sheer shoulder; an incredible display of physical strength that left the watching Impa, Alwyn and Raynard in widened eyes of their own. Barkner gave vent to a loud call of effort as he sent the Wolfos swinging overhead into the wreckage-filled ground behind him with both muscled arms, renting the very mines themselves into a powerfully-shaking earthquake.

CRASSSSH-DROOOOOM

The Wolfos grunted out, its bones suffering in the assault, before it re-widened its beady blood-red eyes only to find the glaring-faced Alwyn high above it, fast-descending down in a somersault kick.

SLAM-CRRRRACCCCKKK

The Wolfos' own scowl was lost to it and it couldn't even howl in the agony; its eyes widened a second time following its last assault and its mouth opened but no sound of torment came from it. As the grunting Zoran soldier leapfrogged off of the Wolfos' body, however, he left it open to further assault; something that the group did not refuse. The glaring Impa re-appeared at the wolf's head and narrowed her fire-shaded eyes as she swung a knife directly into the beast's growling neck, drawing large amounts of blood and anguish. It rumbled deep within its bleeding throat as it tried, in vain, to swipe its claws away at the head-darting Sheikah's form.

"Rgh... just... die already..." The woman muttered out disdainfully, eyes glaring down at its bleeding form.

As the contrastingly grinning Link dropped down from the ceiling's debris, he cast his sociable cheer on the relatively introverted Raynard on his left. He twirled the Gilded Sword 'round his left fingers expertly as he began to advance forward in a gradual march that the frowning Raynard duplicated, reaching back for his own steel halberd.

"You up for this?" The ever cheery-grinning Link asked in a deft up-raise of his head. The frowning Raynard double-took in the blonde's direction before briefly lowering his head, shutting his eyes and grinning lowly back.

"Hmph... fine."

FWIP

FWIP

In merely six words shared together, the two leapt up in a simultaneous somersault, fast-descending down in a plunging assault that saw them digging their weapons deep into the wide-eyed Wolfos' broken torso.

HHHOWWWWWLLLL...

In one final gasp the vanquished beast's eyes rolled up behind the back of its head; the last signature of its defeat. Impa, Link and Raynard all widened their eyes as they flipped and back-stepped to avoid the inevitable green-shaded fire that encompassed its gigantic figure, leaving the mines at last free of its rampage of destruction.

When the emerald-shaded fire surrounding the giant Wolfos' corpse at last dissipated, alongside the body it covered, the ever-grinning Link sheathed his Gilded Sword and shot forward a bold-faced gesture. He rose up his index and forefinger together into the air together, the rest of his fingers and thumb all clenched up into a small fist.

"All right!" He exclaimed out excitedly. "That's cool!"

–

3

"Thank Din there ain't no guts after that...," Barkner winced out as he stepped forward to join the growing party of five, placing his hands upon his hips as he did. "That thing was huge...!" He ended out in a cringing hiss.

"Too big to be a normal Wolfos... that's for certain," the frowning-faced Impa agreed with the Goron as she twirled the knife she carried 'round her fingers expertly before bringing up a small cloth to rid its steel blade of its victim blood. "Whatever was in here... was called somehow."

"Y'mean like it was summoned?" The newly-frowning Link asked, lowering his outstretched left hand to raise a straw-haired eyebrow up at the Sheikah.

"Could be...," she sighed unknowingly, eyes briefly shut as she twirled the knife a second time before deftly sheathing it on her belt. "There's no way to know for sure."

"Would he have something to do with it?" The folded-armed Alwyn spoke up in an accusing nod, directing all surprised attention toward the surprised Raynard standing in the centre of the group; the black-haired boy darted his tree-shaded eyes around them before his scowl twitched and he shut his own eyes in response.

"Hmph...," the similarly stoic mercenary merely grunted back. "If you really think I'm connected with an open contract on this thing then you're stupider than you all look." He simply shot back, his irritated scowl showing a lack of patience with the group.

Alwyn exchanged an unsure hardened frown of his own with the head-shaking Impa, almost as if to dissuade him from pressing the black-haired boy any further.

Without any evidence to support their claims, after all, they had little to work with.

"Ahhh he's fine," the ever-sociable Link threw into the conversation, stepping forward and ringing his right arm 'round the anti-social mercenary's neck casually, grinning on as he always liked to. "He's just a little weird... aint'cha?" He pressed the boy with as he cast him his friendly grin. Raynard stared back at him, folded-armed and all and eyebrow-raised, before eventually regaining his old low smirk. He shut his chestnut-shaded eyes before lightly lowering his head and responding in his usual standoffish way.

"Hmph."

"In any case...," the sighing Impa began again as she cast her eyes 'round the debris-filled battlefield they had just fought in, placing a hand on her hip as she did. "We should probably go locate the missing mayor and any remaining survivors holed up here."

The grinning-faced Barkner saluted as the contrastingly-frowning Alwyn merely nodded in acknowledgement. Raynard, however, huffed as he swung his spiky-haired head out of the arm-lock that his rival placed him in, presumably to go marching off toward the staircase behind them to leave.

"My contract's over so I'm out of here," he called over his shoulder, unfolding his slim arms, marching on as he did. "Later."

Although the watching Impa narrowed her fire-red eyes on after the leaving Raynard in a suspiciously-held gaze, the ever-grinning Link slammed his left fist into his openly-held right palm, drawing the Sheikah's attention.

"Sounds good boss!" He called out. "Where we lookin' first?"

~

Following their quick but harrowing battle with the mysteriously-summoned giant Wolfos, the party eventually managed to find the remaining survivors; a group of men working within the mines that tendered their thanks, alongside the present mayor of Palashia himself.

Lavrentius Marino.

Although the group were left with virtually no answers following the mysterious invasion and accident within, they were thanked not only by the remaining miners but by the office of the grateful mayor himself; something that served them rather well within the bustling city of Palashia, and the upcoming Deadly Frenzy national championship tournament. Once inviting them up to his private manse to thank them personally, he took the time to introduce himself with the newer members of Impa's party.

Mainly Zelda and Malon.

"I had expected you'd have all been a group of fighters," the slim man smiled in their direction from across his desk, using a crutch for his right arm, seemingly having been damaged in the original attack. "As I said before... we're truly lucky you all came to our rescue," Lavrentius spoke again, smiling as he nodded toward the ever-grinning Link and frowning-faced Impa. Barkner, his arms folded, nodded forward in his own respectful grin, drawing only a simple nod of frowning acknowledgement from the standing Alwyn. "We all owe you our lives... thank you all, sincerely."

"Hey don't worry about it. Thank that other miner guy; Paul," Link threw in casually, raising up his slim arms to rest behind his green-hat head; an old habit. "He's what got us the info that helped us help you guys."

Lavrentius smiled again in an appreciative chuckle, nodding. "I'll have to thank him as well then...," the purple-haired man claimed. "So... you are all involved in the...?"

"Deadly Frenzy tournament, yeah," Barkner answered the man politely, grinning on as his younger Hylian comrade loved to. "We've just come from the national championships held in Hyrule."

"Ahhh Aurelia's capital!" Lavrentius smiled on in an understanding nod of his own before casting the standing Zelda a knowing look. "That'll be why our continent's princess is gracing us with her presence, hm?"

The blonde girl smiled similarly from her position next to the grinning Link, hands joined at her back. "Something like that."

"Do you have any information at all about what may have caused the appearance of that fiend?" Impa questioned the man curiously, re-folding her armoured arms as she did. "Normally when creatures show up in small number it's nothing to be concerned about, but..."

"But when one as large as that does it's a wonder it was even hid from the public," Alwyn finished for his commander in an accusing narrowed eye, frowning on firmly as he spoke. "Someone called it," the Zoran soldier claimed. "And we need to know who."

Palashia's mayor sighed softly through his throat and lowered his head as he leaned back against his desk, strands of his purple-shaded hair dropping over the spectacles he sported so well. "I wish I could tell you all, genuinely," he answered at last, re-raising his head to face the unsure group before him. "I was there to do my monthly inspection and to share recognition with a particular miner for his outstanding contributions to Greymont, but...," he began again, shaking his head a second time doubtfully. "It just all happened so quickly."

"I don't imagine anyone would have been able to prepare," Malon spoke up from Zelda's right, hands on her hips. "Wasn't the whole regiment that the Palashian military sent in wiped out by the fiends?"

"That's correct," Lavrentius nodded gravely, frowning back at the fire-haired girl. "There's almost no way of knowing... but I know what you mean," he began again, turning his frowning-faced scepticism over to eye the suspicious-eyed Sheikah on his right. "There's something about it that just doesn't add up."

"Y'got that for sure," Link agreed with the group in his jolly-grinning nature. "Anyway... I'm just glad we could be there to help," he offered in his light and friendly chuckle. "And so close to the tournament too!"

"I'll have to secure seats for you all in the audience stands," the well-natured mayor chuckled on, his eyes briefly shut as he spoke. "A small token of my gesture of thanks."

"We appreciate that," Impa smiled back genuinely. "It's not too difficult for the participants to watch, given they get a good view from the competitor's box, but for the rest of us it can be a difficult case to even see what's happening with how popular these tournaments can be."

"Ah!" The newly-frowning Lavrentius called out, as if surprised by his memory. He soon regained his smile, this time sly in nature, and swung it 'round on the group of youths. "You all know what the number one prize is to be this year in the Pathos of Palashia's Premier, don't you?" He asked the grinning-faced Link, drawing a blinking-eyed frown from him in response.

The blonde exchanged an unsure shrug with the head-shaking Zelda and Malon before re-facing the older man. "A trophy...?"

The mayor chuckled knowingly. "In a sense...," he began again in a suggestively-light grin, drawing curious-eyed stares from the listening group. "I hear the Palashian royal family has offered their kingdom up for grabs for whoever becomes the Palashian martial arts champion this year."

Impa's eyebrows shot up in surprise and she held back a gasp. "Is this true?"

Link grinned on, placing a hand on his hip in another of his old habits when talking to people. "Sounds like fun!" The former Kokiri claimed confidently. "So what would I do if I win? Be Palashia's king or something?"

Barkner held back sniggers from the side, drawing the blonde's curiosity and doubtfulness. Before long even the frowning-faced Alwyn began to smirk alongside the silent mayor across from him.

"I don't get it; what's-?" Malon began, unsure in her own blinking-eyed frown before, suddenly and all at once she made the connection; her sky-blue eyes widened and she turned her eyes away from the group, an embarrassed red tint to her cheeks taking over.

Obviously it was some form of realisation.

Link's newly-gained frown turned annoyed and he looked over at the similarly-smiling Zelda next to him; she merely shook her likewise-haired head at him, almost as if to disincline his silent request.

"I get it!" The brashly blonde boy called out in an abrupt grin before deftly lowering his smirk in favour of a bored-faced frown. "I don't get it...!" He finished out in a comically-voiced hiss, eliciting an eventual burst-out laugh from the listening Barkner next to them. Zelda giggled on in amusement with him as Malon and Impa rolled their eyes. At last, however, the Hylian princess opted to throw him a bone; she leaned in to his side and began to whisper in his small and pointed ear. His frown perked up and he blinked on silently as he listened.

Soon enough, when he took in what she said, he swung his blonde-haired head back 'round to re-face her in a horrified open-mouthed frown almost as if for her to confirm. She smiled back as she nodded in affirmation, joining her small hands together at her centre as she always liked to.

"B-But then I can't win!" He cried out in his worried frown, drawing another booming laugh from the listening Goron. Lavrentius chuckled lightly, lowering his purple-haired head as he did in a deft shake.

"Better hope you don't!" The man wisely stated. "I hear the family of Palashia's princess is very controlling," he claimed, leaning his body to his left, as if to avoid any unnecessary pain on his right side. "However, that said... winning the Palashian championship and a young woman's hand in marriage?" The man started a second time, this time in a thoughtful-faced frown. "You'd have your whole life set out for you! At least financially!" He smiled on positively.

"Ech!" The horrified Link called back, rising up his left hand as if in disgust. "I'm only eleven! Who knows how old that hag is! I'm still just a k-"

Lavrentius smiled back in an affirming nod of his own. "Yes, princess Vassia is fast-approaching thirteen herself so you're not even that far apart," he spoke on in his calm baritone before blinking in a light frown, as if forgetting something. "Age-wise anyway." He amended in a light chortle.

"She's even older than you are...!" Barkner whispered out suggestively in his amused grin, leaning to his right to nudge the unamused blonde boy's left side. He turned his oceanic-eyed gaze 'round to deadpan stare back at him in a comically-faced frown, drawing entertained looks from the rest of the room. "You can't say no to that!"

"No!"

The group swung their heads 'round in surprise, only to find the source of the soprano as the firmly-frowning face of Malon, running in to wrap her slim arms 'round the surprised Link's neck. He drew out a surprised gasp as she pulled him toward her, his cheeks turning red out of inevitable embarrassment.

"Gagh!"

"It'd be like sending off an animal to die!" The passionately-voiced farm girl called out, her arms growing tighter as she spoke. "I refuse to let that happen!"

"M-Malon...! C-Can't breathe...!"

Suddenly realising she was being called, the auburn-haired girl blinked before turning her frown down on the hissing and gasping boy in her possession. She winced and immediately let go of his neck, allowing him to regain his own space once more; he gasped away in relief and cracked his neck from side-to-side as if to restore feeling to it. The watching group all exchanged amused looks, drawing laughs from the more sociable side of them.

"I always knew you are a dog!" The grinning Barkner called out affectionately, nudging the Hylian boy a second time. Link swung his straw-haired head 'round however and barked back at him by snapping his jaws in a rather noisy and childish gesture that sent the wide-eyed Goron laughing back to his usual position.

"In any case...," the chuckling Lavrentius spoke lightly, shaking his head as he wiped away a single tear, presumably of hilarity. "I should let you all go; I imagine you're all dying to get some rest after all that action."

"Thank you, mayor Lavrentius," Impa nodded forward in a grateful-faced smile. "For the tickets and for the hospitality."

–

4

Barkner let loose a long and tired yawn, stretching his rocky-bodied arms as he entered into his room.

"Whew! What a day," the Goron began, glad to be at the end of it as he strode lightly toward what seemed to be his bed on the other end of the room. "I can say we did some good today, at the very least!" He grinned on in satisfaction as he finished his march, reaching down for the quilt covers below.

It was only when he double-took to his top-left that he dropped his grin in favour of a surprised frown, finding only the frowning-faced Zelda staring back at him in the bed far across from him. The curious Goron darted his eyes between her unsure form and the door he just walked through, quizzical and puzzled.

"Sir Barkner this isn't your room," the young princess claimed as she sat up from her lying position, revealing the clothes she had picked out presumably for sleeping with. "What are you doing in here?"

"But...?" The Goron began again, turning his eyes away in deep thought as he pulled out the brass-shaded room key that he stood in. His dark-brown eyes widened however in sudden realisation, his mind quickly going back to his last encounter with their red-haired companion. Zelda, sensing his suspicions, rose up her light-blonde eyebrows and widened her ocean-shaded eyes to match. "That cheeky motherf-!"


	11. Alpha & Omega: Beginning & End

Chapter 11: Alpha and Omega; Beginning and End  
Pathos of the Palashian Premier Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst The World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Song for Torment" - Fear & Hunger OST. Scene 1 (First Half).  
"Character Select" - Street Fighter X Tekken OST. Scene 2 (First Half).

\--

With confidence backing their convictions and with great curiosity filling their souls, the party of heroes led by Impa at last finish through Prima's World Tour tournament in Hyrule; the 'Hylian Hyrax' in respectable positions. Link finishes in an extremely close second, losing only to his old rival; last survivor of the Van Garrick clan, Raynard Van Garrick.

In this position he has secured a trophy, a sizeable lump of prize money and, of course, championship points. Barkner and Alwyn, although finishing in third and fourth respectively, also receive a considerable sum of championship points with which to add to their own tournament career in the PWT; something that they choose to pursue along with their common close companion Link.

When arriving into the great metropolis known as Palashia, however, the group are beset by numerous curiosities; the young Hylian children, though blameless in their youth and innocence, find themselves the target of what appears to be some brand of racial hatred. The highly-knowledgeable Impa and Alwyn explain to them that this stems from countless centuries of injustice and slavery, wrought at the hands of the Hylians themselves during the height of their power and reign. All facts that are conveniently omitted from Hyrulean history books.

"You'll find that... history is written by the winners, princess."

Wise words spoken by the ever business-like Impa herself.

It is while securing their rooms for the Palashian martial arts tournament, however, that the heroes are approached by nearby miner by name of 'Paul'; he explains rashly and worriedly that he is the only seeming survivor of an attack at the Greymont Mines, via what seems to be a random infestation of fiends and to make matters worse the city's mayor himself is being held hostage within.

Although the group vote two to four in favour of leaving the miners to their fate, they choose to go assist the poor miners, receiving merely impudence and rudeness from the nearby soldiers' commander. Soon enough, however, he soon realises his precarious position and agrees to allow the party to assist them; something that earns them the city's respect and gratitude. While inside the warriors easily mop up any small-time fiends such as Lizalfos and Keese before eventually bumping into the winner of the Hylian Hyrax himself; Raynard Van Garrick.

He explains he is in the mines for a 'contract'; when the suspicious Impa questions him further they are swiftly ambushed and by one of the most shocking sights of all.

A gigantically-sized black-haired Wolfos.

Although the heroes are initially shocked by the appearance of such a huge fiend they shake it off and quickly work together, new ally in tow and all; with little to no trouble at all, they put the Wolfos away with deft teamwork and synergy but are left with no more answers than when they came in.

Where did the fiends come from? And with what intention?

Though smaller fiends generally congregate within damp, dark places such as the Greymont Mines, Impa's suspicion only grows when she considers the abrupt appearance of such a powerfully-sized Wolfos; it can only be bad. Her sharp mind at first goes to imprisoned Ganondorf himself but, realising he couldn't possibly be at fault for such a far-off indiscretion, her suspicions fairly quickly fall back on his right-hand man; a former deserter of the religious Hylian order and feeder of information to his cause.

Scaverin Estienne.

The heroes put their suspicions out of their mind however; as a new day breaks, so too does the sun shine for the glorious opening of the Palashian Premier tournament. Link, as always, awakes fairly groggily and early in the morning...

\--

Scene 1

The ground didn't rumble in the effect that the robed Scaverin evoked but it gave off a strange vibration that the watching Raynard found himself feeling uneasy with; he held back a grunt of effort as he stayed his body to the ground, tree-shaded eyes glaring back at the vibrating form of his mentor before him.

"Just as I told you...," the bald-headed Hylian man grinned on, his robed arms held on his sides and his palms opened up, as if he were embracing something. "These foolish Aurelians... they know not the true value of which they watch over..."

Raynard gulped down a load of nervously-gained saliva as he watched, a single bead of sweat dropping down from his forehead in likewise anxiety.

Something's not right here, the young Hylian thought.

A chill ran down his spine and he felt like regurgitating whatever he had last eaten...

"And yet he's perfectly okay... why is that?"

The robed Scaverin made no attempt to read his student's ruminations; indeed, as the air around them rumbled and vibrated somehow, so too did some form of Aegir and Quintessence slowly hover into the grinning sorcerer's form.

"Excellent...," he sighed out, his robes at last lowering, as if to indicate the end of his odd eldritch-like ritual. Raynard's killing senses at last relaxed and he sighed through his nose in a grateful-faced frown, glad to be rid of the odd sensation that once weighed heavily in the air. "Calling that giant Wolfos certainly turned out to be a good idea after all..." The wizard grinned on in satisfaction, drawing a half-curious frown from the watching Raynard.

"Couldn't we have done this without endangering needless lives like that though?" He shot forward, arms folded as he did, black-shaded eyebrow raised. Scaverin lost his grin in favour of a half-curious frown as he slowly 'rounded his bald head to stare back at the boy. "I mean I'm happy for the experience, but..."

"You received a sizeable amount of Rupees from the killing of that creature, didn't you?" The conjurer claimed in a testy tone, his hazel-shaded eyes narrowing in scrutinisation. "What's wrong? Those pathetic Palashians refuse to pay you?"

"No I got the money all right, but...," Raynard answered him, lowering his eyes lightly as he did before swiftly re-raising them to face him again. "People died for this," he reiterated, frowning forward. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes...,"

Raynard's senses twitched back into killer instinct mode and he unfolded his arms, taking a step back as the glaring-faced Scaverin turned his form 'round in his hateful-faced glare. The baritone he spoke in flavoured his tormented words perfectly; anger and frustration filled him as he turned to stand threateningly over the boy.

"It was," the wizard claimed boldly. "Domination... is at last complete; it just barely reaches the requirements but a full regiment of soldiers and the odd miner or two should bring us up to speed..."

As always the listening Raynard could make little to no sense of his mentor's drivel; it was something that always divided them and prevented them from bonding.

Not that he ever wanted to.

"What even are these questions anyway...?" The sorcerer pressed the boy suspiciously, furrowing his bald-headed brow as he spoke. "You come from a clan of people murdered and abandoned by these thoughtless cretins... what could you care for them?"

Raynard lowered his chestnut-brown eyes, twitching as he listened. "I dunno I guess... it just ain't right..."

"You've been spending too much time with that boy...," Scaverin growled out as he marched down the mountain of soldiers' corpses he stood on, marching past the wincing and silent Raynard. "Although you may both be Hylian...," he began again, half-turning his head as he spoke. "You can never trust him..."

Raynard furrowed his own brow in curiosity. "Why?"

"Why...?" Scaverin murmured out in a frowning-faced parrot before he swiftly regained the satisfied smirk on his face, refacing the front. "Why because of his relation to the royal family of course..."

The listening Raynard's frown-turned-scowl twitched one last time as he stood. Unable to respond, having known the answer anyway, he merely began marching along behind his mentor ever faithfully.

~

The sound of birds singing and calling away echoed out from the window nearby, slowly but surely pulling the sleeping form of the groggy Link back to the waking world. He winced as he opened up his oceanic-eyed gaze into an inevitably low-held squint as the bright rays of the sun itself shone through his window on his top-right. The blonde-haired boy rose up his right hand to block the powerful rays that shot through his eyes to his head, bringing on a light ache to his head.

Another day, another Rupee, he thought to himself in a light sigh through his nose.

His spirits quickly rose however when he remembered that today, of all days, was the day of the Palashian tournament.

He almost let a smile grace his young complexion before he swung his head down to glare in annoyance at the feeling of something pressed down on his side.

"What the...?" He murmured out, half-curious. He furrowed his brow as he pulled up the quilt only to widen his ocean-shaded eyes at the sight waiting for him; sleeping next to him was the quietly-snoozing Malon, her small form curled up to lean on him. "Gagh!" He exclaimed out, half-surprised. Soon enough however his initial shock turned to annoyance and his comically-faced deadpan-like frown changed to convey it, and rather successfully at that.

The young farm girl slowly but surely opened up her similarly sky-blue eyes and yawned as she rose her head to face him. They stared at one another in another humorously silent exchange; Link in his annoyed glare and Malon in her genuinely curious-eyed early-morning lethargy. Eventually and soon as well the frowning-faced Malon's expression soon switched to a greeting smile.

"Morning." She spoke surprisingly cheerfully, drawing an annoyed twitch from the Hylian next to her.

"Don't morning me!" He snapped back, his frustration with the auburn-haired girl growing. "What the hell are you doin' here?! We shouldn't be sleeping together!"

Malon let a devious little smile etch across her face as she wrapped her slim arms 'round the boy's own left, pulling it closer. "Oh darling, what will the others think if they hear you talking like that?"

Realising he had walked himself straight into an embarrassing sentence the former Hero of Time blushed both in chagrin and shame, mostly in their abrupt and strange change in relationship.

This just feels weird, the young boy thought.

Normally it's me embarrassing her.

"I don't think I like it..." He finished silently as he tried, in vain, to pull his arm free from her grip.

"So what's on the agenda for today then?"

Her sudden question dragged him straight back out of his frowning-faced ruminations and he double-took back down toward her in a disapproving look before lightly sighing in defeat, relaxing his left arm in her hers.

"Palashian Premier's on today at 11:00," he answered in his sighing tenor. "Y'know...," he began again, staring down at her in an annoyed frown. "If we'll ever get out of bed."

She giggled impishly back at him.

"I guess there's always breakfast first though...," the Hylian boy murmured out, turning his blue-eyed gaze toward the sun's rays. "Wonder what time it is..."

"Early...," Malon sighed lightly back, re-shutting her eyes as she leaned in closer to the boy's neck. He twitched again from the contact and couldn't help but near shiver when he smelt her scent; a nostalgic one that reminded him of their forgotten days together within a different timeline. "I made sure to sneak in here early enough so we'd get a good night's sleep."

"Yeah...," he replied in a suspicious-eyed frown. "About that... shouldn't you be over there?" He nodded his messy blonde head and pointed his free right hand toward the far-off bed at the edge of the room. "And where the hell is Barkner?"

"He's fine...," Malon sing-singed out in a grinning roll of her azure eyes. "All I did was switch our keys!"

"So we'd get paired y'mean." He accused her in a disapproving narrow of his eyes. She rolled her eyes again, her cheer wholly undeterred.

"You make it sound so lewd and indecent," the girl batted back before she grew her grin a little as she brushed her right finger softly across his left arm, making the youth twitch in her grip again. "Whatever will we tell the others...?" She whispered in his ear, drawing an embarrassed wince from him. Finding himself unusually pressured by the young girl he immediately went to his panicked thoughts and drew on the only female member of the crew that didn't embarrass him.

Or didn't try to embarrass him, at any rate.

"IMPA-SENSEI!"

–

2

Following his rather humorous debacle with the audacious farm girl, the wise Sheikah leading them opted to punish not only the overstepping Malon but the annoyed Link as well; a fact that left a sour taste in the blonde boy's mouth, even as he shovelled food into his mouth, drawing laughs from the well-natured members of the group.

Thankfully however, for them both, their punishment was deferred until after the Palashian Premier was over; a fact that managed to allay the youth's concerns as he signed and showed up for the next tournament itself. Just as with the national championships in Hyrule, the stadium within Palashian Palace was packed; even having arrived fairly early, thanks to the wise Impa's counsel, the group still barely found enough room with which to manoeuvre.

With some genuinely light surprise the well-founded Link, Barkner and Alwyn soon discovered that their earlier finishing positions within the Hylian Hyrax had bought them a reprieve from the Palashian preliminary rounds; with nine-hundred points shared between them all they more than qualified to make the top eight. However, thanks to official rules and guidelines regardless, the three were forced to fight through a series of relatively easy preliminaries alongside everyone else as a formality.

It was something that, while the heroes didn't mind, the lone wolf himself, Raynard Van Garrick, did; and he voiced his displeasure with the staff members severely. As always however he was briefly swept aside in favour of the officials and guidelines; a consistency in their style that kept the Prima World Tour on top. Just as within the Hylian Hyrax's stands, every seat was filled and with screaming and enthusiastic watchers at that.

"Hello and welcome, one and all to the beautiful splendour of Palashia Palace!" The well-dressed man called out, ever professional from his desk just below the audience stands. "I'm Mr. Marshall, man on the scene! And with me always is my partner in crime..."

"Tasty Seth!" The notoriously loud youth called out loudly, standing up from his seat to place himself on their very desk itself, leaving the worried Marshall wincing on his immediate right. "What's poppin' Palashia?! It's ya boys T.S and M.M and we can't wait to show you today's top eight competitors!" He called out, drawing an annoyed grunt from his older companion; he swatted the man's attempts to grasp at his arm, presumably to pull him down, before continuing to speak through his small Gossip Stone. "We got returners, we got newbies, we got former champions! It's gonna be the best damn show you people have ever seen!"

YEAAAAAAAAAHHH

In an excited call the audience boosted the morale of the already enthusiastic youth and, at last, Marshall managed to pull the young man back down, gifting him with a half-annoyed frown before regaining his smile as he re-faced the front.

"That's right, folks; if you've been following our Prima World Tour you'd know we've already been to Aurelia's capital in Hyrule... a tantalising tournament indeed!" The man explained in his sociable smile. "Returning with us in today's top eight are none other than the previous winner of the Hylian Hyrax himself and now-crowned Hylian champion; Raynard Van Garrick!"

YEAAAAAAAAAAHHH

"His blonde-haired rival; the blonde bombshell himself... Link Firbrand, nipping at his heels rejoins us for the Palashian Premier!" Marshall called out, briefly reading from what seemed to be a parchment of paper laying on his desk.

YEAAAAAAAAAAHHH

"Don't forget our boy in Zora's Domain!" The ever-exuberant Seth called out in his infectious grin. "Alwyn Weirson; the drunk... with style!"

"And, of course, our last returning competitor and no slouch himself; Barkner Elbrus!" Marshall continued his younger companion's call, smiling on as he did. "The rock that no one can lock!"

YEAAAAAAAAAAHHH

"We got one hell of a show for you today folks and we can't wait to get down with it!" Seth grinned on. "Ain't that right Marsh?"

"Most definitely!" The older man smiled on in enthusiasm. "Don't go away folks; stay tuned to this ever-developing event!"

~

"So how have you been since...?"

"O-Oh um... you know... I'm... hangin' in there."

The watching Link couldn't help but grow the grin that threatened to split the sides of his face, holding back a similarly-held chuckle that the standing Alwyn mouthed lightly beside him. Standing directly ahead of them was the awkwardly-held Barkner in conversation with a familiar woman; his last opponent from the Hylian Hyrax itself; a woman by the name of Lyna Greene mixed a surprisingly sociable smile with the Goron as she folded her arms back at him.

"Y'know... I am happy for the guy...," Link began positively, his grin growing a little in his usual brand of mischief. "But of all chicks...?!" He laughed, pulling his straw-haired head back in hilarity as he did. "She's like, the manliest girl I've ever seen...!" He laughed out in a low-toned hiss of his tenor, being sure to keep his voice low so as not to attract any undue attention.

Alwyn cast the childish boy a half-amused smirk of his own before re-facing the smiling Lyna and chuckling Barkner ahead, his slim Zoran arms ever folded.

"Some of us legitimately can't help the kinds of women we attract," the Zoran merely shrugged back in a lighter smile of his own, the atmosphere meshing well with his usually-stoic behaviour. "You of all people should know, surely." He batted back however, this time in a knowing smirk.

Link's laugh soon died out only to be replaced by a half-amused grin of his own, a blonde eyebrow shooting up in piqued curiosity. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Alwyn grinned back knowingly as he turned his blue-shaded head 'round to face the boy. "You're dangling two potentials within our party by itself, let alone any possible women you've met in your little adventures."

Link couldn't help but grin back in a zig-zag like nature, unable to find a word with which to respond.

He has me there, the former Kokiri thought.

"And a Palashian princess if things go your way by the end of today!" The former soldier continued on, another eyebrow rising up as he did almost as if to gauge his friend's reaction. Realising Alwyn was referring directly to the number one prize of the Palashia Premier tournament they were here for, Link rose both eyebrows of his own before wincing.

Oh yeah, he thought.

There's that too.

"Now I got mixed thoughts about winning..." He murmured out, folding his bare arms as he stood dressed within his karate gi attire, casting his frown downward in deep once, and surprising the youth beside him, Alwyn let out a light laugh that agreed with his normally hardened and stoic form.

The frowning Link swung his raised-brow to eye the man before swiftly switching his frown into an infected smirk of his own, joining along in the Zoran's cheer. He shrugged back and lowered his blonde-haired head lightly as he did, oceanic eyes shut.

"What can I say? I got too many girlfriends!" He boldly stated, drawing another laugh from the amused Zoran. "Danglin' one more just wouldn't be fair to the others!"

"You're an idiot is what you are."

The pair turned their heads, half-surprised to find the source of the deep tenor stepping into the competitor's box the folded-armed Raynard himself, ever scowling in deep-disapproval.

"Ray!" Link greeted on in an amused chuckle of his own, raising up his slim arms to rest behind his pony-tailed head ever in an old habit. "Nice to see you too!"

"You're a Hylian; act like it," the black-haired boy lightly chided as he unfolded his arms to begin marching past them. "I respect what strength you do have so have respect for yourself," he criticised on as he nodded his head in his firmly-frowning form of recognition. "Acting like a clown will avail you nothing here; I promise you."

Even as the spiky-haired mercenary marched off and issued two more nods, one to the light-faced Alwyn and the similarly-smiling Barkner, the grinning Link couldn't help but shake his straw-haired head in near disbelief as he watched him leave. Barkner jabbed a rocky-bodied thumb back the way he came, half-turning his head in the disappearing mercenary's figure as he re-opened his mouth to speak.

"Yo was that Ray?" The Goron asked in the quip of an entertained grin. "It looked like he gave us nods of respect!"

"Yeah; I told ya!" The ever-grinning Link shot back, nodding his own head upwards in greeting as the Goron approached them. "The guy's okay at his core! He's just, y'know, a little weird."

The disagreeing look he received from the knowledgeable Alwyn made him roll his eyes in his light smirk.

"All right he's more than a little weird, I admit," the blonde boy chuckled. "But he's got a good heart I'm willin' to bet."

Alwyn nodded on along in light agreement before he slowly turned his ocean-shaded head to face his Goron companion on his right, his smile still on his face as he did.

"So how's Lyna?"

Barkner's grin immediately dissolved, and in favour of a shocked and embarrassed zig-zag-like frown, eliciting a snorting snigger from the listening Link on the side.

"U-Um...," the Goron began uncertainly, wincing noticeably as he revolved himself 'round to eye the folded-armed woman herself standing patiently behind him near the box's centre end. She double-took in his direction and smiled lightly as she nodded back, drawing an awkward wave from him in response. "Y-Yeah; she's... fine," he answered, unsure and all. The listening Link exchanged his silent-faced grin with the similarly smiling Alwyn and the pair began to laugh in their own respective ways; Link in his ever expectant outburst and Alwyn in his more reserved and respectful chuckle. "W-What?!" Barkner called out in his annoyed frown, as if insulted. "What the hell's so funny?!"

Alwyn merely shook his head in response, perhaps in an attempt to dissuade the Goron from pressing him further, an amused smile still dotting his expression.

"No judgement." The grinning-faced Link spoke out as he rose up his hands in mock-surrendering, his voice half-breaking from the laugh he desperately held back.

"Welcome one and all! And thank you all again for taking part in the Palashian Premier."

The trio widened their eyes before turning their heads 'round toward the north-east end of the competitor's box; sure enough, one of Prima's many staff members began to move the event forward. All the necessary competitors were standing all around her and the whiteboard she utilised.

All except of course the heroes themselves.

Link nudged his two companions in his grin and cast them both a wink. "Come on! We better not be late."

–

3

"Congratulations to one and all for making it to the finals of this prestigious tournament!" The woman spoke out as she cast her smile down toward the growing group of warriors below her. As within the last national championships, there was a full group of eight challengers all littered 'round her, their numbers having grown with the grinning Link and his two companions. "In my hands are somewhat small Gossip Stones of the country of Hyrule."

The listening Link couldn't help but exchange his outward grin with the similarly silent Raynard across from him. The older boy looked back in his half-curious frown before he huffed lightly; ever in his usual knowing stoicism, Raynard merely kept his arms folded as he re-shut his chestnut-shaded eyes and grinned on as if infected by the blonde's sociability.

"When I hand all these out to you they will all flash a specific number," the referee continued on, smiling as she spoke. She bent down to hand over the first to the the firmly-frowning form of Raynard; he unfolded his arms and nodded in his hardened frown of respect as he gratefully took one from her. "With all that said, the Prima World Tour thanks and congratulates you once again and wishes you all good luck in your pairings!"

Link nodded in his excited smirk as he took the miniature Gossip Stone from the smiling woman before rising it up to his oceanic-eyed gaze.

Here we go, the young Hylian thought.

What's my number?

一

The former Hero of Time blinked on down unknowingly at the character shining in the Gossip Stone's beautiful display.

It looked like ancient Hylian, just like the last one, he thought.

His frown turned zig-zag in half-annoyance, unable to translate it.

"If only I could read this like Kage could..."

His thoughts, seemingly somehow read by the nearby leaning Barkner, made him swing his blonde-haired pony-tailed head in his direction in surprise. The Goron rose a curious eyebrow before smiling as he nodded.

"Number one; nice!" The man exclaimed out, drawing the curious referee's attention from across the room. "That means you're in Block 'A'!" Barkner claimed, pointing a rocky-bodied finger toward the neatly-written display on the whiteboard across from them.

"How do you know how to read ancient Hylian?" Link batted back in a half-amused grin, rising up a straw-haired eyebrow as he did, drawing a shrugging chuckle from the Goron.

"I took a couple classes whenever me and big bro Darunia were in Hyrule Castletown; what can I say?" He merely replied with in his grinning-faced shrug. "It's come in handy!"

"I'll say!" The smiling referee nodded as she approached the pair, turning her purple-haired head to face the ever-grinning Link. She reached down to collect his Gossip Stone and nodded a second time in confirmation. "Number... one! Excellent, thank you." She thanked again, this time in a third nod as she brought the stone back toward the table and reached up presumably to convey the results on the whiteboard.

Link's blood boiled at the thought of getting matched up with Raynard again; he couldn't help but swing his grin 'round on the ever-frowning form of his raven-haired rival, drawing another huffing silent-faced smirk from him in response.

It was obvious they were contemplating the same thing.

"Hey, that's real lucky!" Barkner grinned in next to the boy, drawing curious looks from everyone else.

"Yeah?" He asked.

Alwyn nodded along in light agreement. "Yeah," the Zoran claimed, arms ever folded as he nodded his head toward the whiteboard's placements. "Looks like you'll be up against Amaliya."

"Amaliya...?" The young Hylian parroted out quietly, turning his head to his left only to find the woman in question; a black-haired woman in a long military coat, native to Stralanavia. She stood in a seemingly similarly stoic sense to their comrades and cast the watching Link a hard-frowning glower as he stared on back at her hot-pink irises.

Damn, he thought.

I've met friendlier Wolfos', he finished in a half-amused grin.

"She looks strong though..."

Even the thought of a challenge from what appeared to be a well-experienced former soldier was tantalising; it was something that lit a fire in the boy's belly.

His fists clenched at his sides and he narrowed his eyes forward in his excited grin, morale rising high.

"In round one we have Link Firbrand versus Amaliya Valentinovna!"

As the referee at last announced the match-up confirmation, the raven-haired woman narrowed her eyes over at the whiteboard almost as if to validate the staff member's words, before eventually swinging her glare on the grinning young Hylian to her left in a swish of her two long strands of black-shaded hair, the rest successfully held together in a neat bun.

"Round two is Katina Agarista versus Alwyn Weirson!"

The former Zoran soldier himself turned his curious-faced frown 'round and, sure enough, his opponent stared back at him; another young woman that had qualified for the top eight's grand finals but, this time, much friendlier. She smiled and nodded over toward him in an affable nod. She was dressed in a loose-fitting white top that fit the simple breezy Palashian weather, merely opting as well for a basic pair of shorts, fingerless gloves and boots.

A Palashian local it would seem.

"Round three is Barkner Elbrus versus... um... 'unknown'!"

The group of warriors all swung their heads in the referee's direction in a mixture of curiosity and shock.

"Unknown?" The brow-furrowed Goron himself parroted, unable to believe the woman's words. She winced as she turned to face him. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Elbrus; it's part of the royal family's wishes." She apologised in a conciliatory frown, shrugging as she did, almost as if to convey the sense that there was nothing she could do about it. Barkner merely blinked back before turning to exchange unsure shrugs with the listening Link and frowning Alwyn.

"And finally, in round four we have Raynard Van Garrick versus Lycidas Marino!"

As the Palashian woman spoke again, the black-haired boy himself swung his hard-frowning face 'round only to find a similarly standoffish man staring back at him and a huge one at that; Raynard's brow near hit the roof when he had to raise his raven-topped head to get a decent look at the incredibly tall man staring back at him. Standing in at what seemed to be a rather intimidating 6 inches at least Lycidas' overall aura was compounded even further by the incredible six-pack muscle that he carried.

The man's long purple hair – seemingly a trademark of the Palashians – was pulled into a long and braided pony-tail, diving down the long reaches of his bare back. He sported nothing across his bare torso, almost as if to reveal his hardened training to all, and wore golden-shaded bracelets across his wrists to go along with it. A tattered black belt sat across his waist, dotted along with simple worn trousers, diamond-green in colour. Similarly golden-coloured boots adorned his feet to complete his look.

All in all, he was rather intimidating.

Raynard glared on back at the hardened stare he received, a side of his scowl twitching in doubt.

"Better not lose!"

The young mercenary widened his chestnut-brown eyes and swung his body 'round to stare back at the contrastingly grinning-faced Link. The blonde boy nodded forward, rising up his left fist vertically as if to gesture with.

"Not before we meet in the finals anyhow!" He amended his sentence with, chuckling on well-naturedly as he did. Raynard at last found his cheer again and smirked lowly as he huffed, eyes briefly shut before he swiftly re-opened them to narrow forward.

"That's my line." He shot back in a confident gaze.

Link couldn't help but chortle again, his excitement growing.


	12. Advance of the Finalists; Survival of the Fittest

Chapter 12: Advance of the Finalists; Survival of the Fittest  
Pathos of the Palashian Premier Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst The World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Rocky Field (Noon)" - Dragonball Fighter Z OST. Scene 1 (Second Half) and 2 (First Half).  
"Undercover 'Agent' Team" - The King of Fighters 2002 (Ultimate Match Edition) OST. Scene 3 (First Half).  
"High Score Results ~{Taito Type X²}" - Ultra Street Fighter IV OST. Scene 3 (Second Half).

\--

The heroes, led by their trusty Sheikah leader Impa, at last make their marks within the neighbouring kingdom of Palashia. Said to be a metropolitan with only the finest of merchants, buildings and culture, it has long reputed to have been an enviable location for retirees and the elderly of Aurelia. While arriving and arranging himself for a new karate gi uniform, as his previous had burned within his explosive confrontation with Raynard, the group are approached by a locally-living miner by the name of Paul.

He explains quite quickly and frantically that, somehow, the nearby Greymont Mines had been invaded and infested by some kind of nest-fiend; indeed, as the heroes perhaps inevitably agree to assist the poor people in need, they soon discover the man's words' rung true. Not only were numerous miners found missing or even dead, the whole regiment of soldiers that was sent by Palashia's military to rescue them was wiped out by the infestation.

Not one to let a daunting challenge hold him back, the former Hero of Time himself fronts the charge with his mentor Impa leading and guiding his hand. It is once within, however, that the two manage to discover that the creature terrorising the poor miners is a Wolfos of all fiends although this particular monster is much larger than any other even the ever-grinning Link himself has come face-to-face with.

Teaming up with the recently-arrived Alwyn, Barkner and Raynard the group focus their efforts successfully and manage to put an end to the big, bad Wolfos and save any remaining lives, including that of the nearby Palashian mayor himself; a man by the name of Lavrentius Marino. He extols the group for their world-class fighting skills in fighting off the fearsome beast and rewards the non-combatants with places and seats at the upcoming Palashian Premier; a gesture that does not go unnoticed by the grateful group.

Once inside Link, Alwyn and Barkner all easily breeze through the preliminaries of the Palashian Premier perhaps even easier than the last only to discover even stronger opponents waiting for them on the other side of the qualifiers; some returning and some not.

Lyna Greene, Amaliya Valentinovna, Katina Agarista and, of course, the last winner of the Hylian national championships; Raynard Van Garrick.

In the inevitable round pairings Link gets faced off with the mysterious Stralanavian woman herself; former military and demanding respect, she goes by the name of Amaliya Valentinovna. Said to be an accomplished general in her time following the far-off northern country, she comes from a similar standoffish personality as Link's former companion and current rival Raynard; something the Hero of Time feels he can work with.

The two stare one another down and, surrounded by the hundreds of Aurelians and Hylians watching them, begin the Palashian Premier itself...

\--

Scene 1

"We hope you're ready ladies and gentlemen... because the Pathos of Palashia's Premier's top eight finals is finally here!"

The excited Mr. Marshall's call made the listening crowd in the audience stands surrounding them all light up in similarly passionate cheers.

"Hell yeah Marsh; we got the country's best all lined up here for all you guys to watch!" The ever-grinning Tasty Seth exclaimed eagerly, speaking into the small Gossip Stone he held with his right hand as he thrust forward his free left, index finger pointed at one of the audience stands.

YEAAAAAAAAAAHHH

"In round one we have a famous face fresh from the Hylian Hyrax!" Marshall began again, smiling as he turned his brown-haired head to eye the tournament's bright-white walls stationed around the competitor's box entrance. "They call him a 'firework'... they call him a 'rocket'... they call him Link Firbrand!"

The listening Aurelians, Gorons, Zorans and Hylians in the audience all let loose an echoing roar of approval as the grinning-faced Hero of Time's face himself, obviously a pictograph, displayed up on the walls before them along with his updated statistics.

Link Firbrand

Aggressiveness: A

Agility: A

Tenacity: S

"Yooo already?!" Seth called out, grinning in a similarly excited manner. "We got his match in round four last time!"

"What can we say Seth?" Marshall chuckled back, snapping his fingers in response. "The Prima World Tour certainly delivers in a fair way!"

"I can't wait to see him burn that white field up!" The youth exclaimed before soon regaining his curious-faced frown and blinking. "Wait... is his opponent...?"

Seemingly reading his younger companion's mind, Marshall gained a knowing grin of his own before he waved his right index finger up at the young man in disinclination. "Not quite my young friend!"

Almost as if planned for the man's words, the blonde boy's pictograph fairly quickly changed to match his upcoming opponent; an older fighter by the looks and a foreign one at that. She glared back at the watcher in her pictograph with her hot-pink eyes narrowed, her long black hair pulled neatly into a bun, leaving only two strands of silky ebony to hover down at her small chin.

Amaliya Valentinovna

Agility: S

Aggressiveness: A

Punishment Proficiency: S+

"Yo I heard about this chick...!" Seth whispered out, eyes widened as if surprised. "She's a Stralanavian regular!"

"That's correct Seth!" Marshall smiled lightly, eyes shut as he nodded briefly in response. "Colonel Amaliya was said to be one of the country's very greatest martial artist of her generation!" The man elucidated on, drawing a wide-eyed gasp from the listening Seth next to him. "She's got battle experience and tactics to match it!" He finished in his lightly-amused chortle.

"Our boy's got his work cut out for him then!" Seth exclaimed eagerly, grinning on in exuberance as he pumped a confident fist.

Marshall smirked back as he nodded in response. "I guess we'll find out!"

As the frowning-faced Amaliya herself began to slowly march into the white-tiled arena the audience's cheers grew to match the fans that also cheered when the grinning Link sauntered in after her to stand on the opposite end, waving toward them all shamelessly.

"Urgh," the watching Malon wrinkled her frown as she beheld the Hylian's lack of self-awareness. "I wish he wasn't so full of himself all the time."

"I quite like it personally," the smiling Zelda countered, ever in her soft and demure tone. The frowning Malon's annoyed look twitched as she turned to face the Hylian princess. "I find it quite endearing."

Finding little to say in response, the annoyed farm girl merely rolled her sky-blue eyes in further display of her frustration, folding her small arms as she did. The watching Impa gained a light grin of her own before she turned her silver-shaded head down to cast her disapproving frown on the grinning Link.

"I hear what you're saying...," the Sheikah murmured out. "He could stand to learn a little humility..."

"All right! Red side, ready!"

The nodding Link turned his smirk back on the far-off referee to his immediate left, hands clenched into fists at his sides, the wind blowing through his neatly-kept ponytail and karate gi.

"Blue side, ready!"

The frowning-faced Amaliya at last re-opened her eyes to wander over toward the similarly frowning referee before she gave only the slightest of nods in response, her stance largely remaining unchanged.

Just as in the last national championship tournament, a tournament staff member frowned as the referee smiled in his direction; he reached up with a drum to smash one of the tournament's many giant gongs.

DRRRROOOOOOOONG...

"Then begin!"

~

The confident Link wasted little to no time in launching an offensive; he leapt forward and vanished from common eyesight. The watching audience looked around for him desperately, leaving the ever-frowning Amaliya merely folded-armed and glaring. When the air around her form began to shimmer she widened her eyes opened and back-dashed into the air, presumably to safety; sure enough, the shimmering air revealed itself as the smirking-faced Link re-appearing directly within the air to swing a roundhouse kick at her.

The former military professional ducked and the pair were soon engaged in and offensive and defensive exchanging; numerous haymakers into roundhouses were thrown the woman's way but she merely moved her slim form out of the way expertly, seemingly having seen them all coming. As the grinning Link swung a vertical punch this time, Amaliya merely quickstepped to evade it before leaping directly skyward, leaving the young Hylian little option other than to immediately pursue.

At last Amaliya unfolded her arms; a gesture of respect between warriors. As the pair closed the distance between one another, the ever-grinning Link slammed his right elbow into the woman's own risen shield of arms, drawing a powerful-sounding clash between them. The former Hero of Time's expression remained unchanged, even as he hung in the air to stare back at the glaring-faced Amaliya. Perhaps amused by his excitement on the field, she shut her eyes and gained a low grin of her own.

"Hmph."

It was then, when she re-opened her eyes in a sudden snap, that the hot-pink within her irises glowed a bold deep-red. Link's grin at last dissolved from his face and he held back a gasp; unable to bring up his arms with which to defend himself, he suffered the first surprising counter-attack the woman had planned for him.

WHINE

FRRRR-DROOOOM

"Gurgh...!"

As the grunting and wincing Link was sent careering back the way he came from the abrupt eye technique, he narrowed his own eyes as they re-opened and he somersaulted backward in a recovery. As his bare feet skid noisily and in resonation within the bright-white tiles beneath him, he shot his body off to his sharp-left presumably with which to begin another offensive. The firmly-frowning Amaliya gave in to gravity and dropped down to land on the very spot with which she first stood.

Even as the super-fast form of the white-clothed Link darted in from her seemingly undefended left side, she merely shot up her left arm to block the inevitable string of aggression. Although she found herself back-stepping in her defensive manoeuvres toward the north-east edge of the ring, she fairly quickly managed to turn the tables on the eager blonde youth. As they began to approach the edge, the grinning Link grunted as he shot forward his right foot in a donkey-like kick designed to knock the enemy far and wide.

Unfortunately for him, however, it left him extraordinarily open.

As the frowning Amaliya merely side-stepped the kick, with little to no space to execute it, the watching Link could only widen his oceanic eyes in a shocked and horrified gasp.

Here comes the counter-attack, he thought.

"Incredible!" The watching Marshall yelled out in excitement, clenching a similarly hyped fist as he did. "With almost no room to work with, Amaliya somehow finds space with which to evade the debilitating Joudan Sokotugeri technique; a kick that would have surely sent her flying out of the ring!"

"This chick got some skills!" The similarly grinning Seth called out in excitable agreement. "Just when you think she out, she in!"

The audience cheered on as the wide-eyed Link was caught directly within a string of particularly painful-looking strikes; the ebony-haired woman's firm frown remained unchanged even as she dashed forward to keep up with his stumbling form. It was only when they began to reach the tournament wall behind them however that the glaring Hero of Time had at last had enough; with merely a millisecond of space to work with he side-stepped swiftly as the coat-wearing woman shot her knee into the wall, perhaps expecting to hit him instead.

CRASSSHHH...

Wasting no time, the bruised and battered youth regained his confident grin as he spun a second roundhouse kick with his left leg; this one at last made its mark in gold and Amaliya widened her hot-pink eyes as she swung her black-haired head to face it.

SMASH

She grunted in agony as she rebounded off of the wall roughly, sending her stumbling back to land face-up on the ground. Link grinned on through the small drops of blood that gathered on the side of his mouth as he shot forward a sudden right fist in pursuit; she widened her eyes again and managed to evade the strike by darting her night-haired head to the side, the assault smashing apart the white-tiled floor beneath them. As the blonde-haired boy followed up with a second she saw it coming and narrowed her eyes expectantly as she reached up with her hands to grapple with him.

Link's eyes widened again and his grin dropped in favour of a shocked and open-mouthed frown. "W-Woah!"

With surprising strength indeed she managed to pull him over her own form before swiftly rolling with him across the floor. The audience all cheered on in approval for their challengers as she ended up straddled across his hips; he grunted as he attempted to push at her thighs to release him but it was all, sadly, in vain.

"Oh my...," the watching Zelda murmured out, chuckling in half-amusement and embarrassment as she watched her companion in a suggestive position with the much older woman beneath them. "That looks fairly intimidating..."

"I'll say." The snorting Malon quipped back, none too amused by the display.

Amaliya reached up to launch a counter-attack and the boy shut his eyes; thinking quickly he brought up his small arms to opposite sides and crossed them, fingers risen up presumably to channel Aegir with. The black-haired woman halted her counter-attack out of sheer curiosity and furrowed her brow in confusion as she watched.

"What's he... doing...?" The frowning Impa murmured out, fire-red eyes narrowing down at them.

Perhaps appropriately a small ignition of fire lit up on his fingers and he re-opened his eyes with renewed zest this time, glaring back at his enemy. Amaliya rose an eyebrow down at him, unsure on how to react before, finally she got her answer; as the small sparks of flame lit up so too did they give birth to the light aura of fire that encapsulated his slim body. The Stralanavian woman gasped and cursed something in her native language before swiftly releasing her thigh's hold on the boy, rolling to her immediate sharp-left in evasion to get away from the flame.

As the bruised and battered Hero of Time rose himself up to re-face the woman, a newly confident smirk graced the complexion of his youthful expression; a look of confidence that, though overtly-expressed, suited him fairly well. The frowning-faced Amaliya cursed a second time in an annoyed whisper as she slapped at the small ignition that Link managed to cause on her long military coat. Finding it more of a burden now than when she first wore it, she frowned in further disapproval as she tossed it aside to slowly drop into the ring-out portion of the field. One of the many staff members scrambled to grab at it, presumably for safe-keeping.

"Impressive...," the woman spoke back in response, this time in classic Aurelian and modern Hylian speech, presumably to speak with the boy. She rolled her long neck around, perhaps to gain some feeling back in an shut-eyed frown, before soon re-opening her eyes and revealing her simple military uniform fit for male Stralanavian officers. "How do you say... there is certainly more to you... than what seems to eye." She offered forward in her thick, deep accent, smiling lightly as she did.

Link grinned back at her, single eye shut as he folded his slim arms back at her, leaning his blonde-haired head to the side as he did. "You ain't so bad yourself!"

The listening and watching audience all let out approving cheers and roars in response, their morale reaching the heavens themselves.

"How about that folks?" The smiling-faced Marshall spoke into his Gossip Stone. "Enemies by rules of our tournament and far-off foreigners by nations but friends nevertheless!" The brown-haired man smiled on. "Truly an excellent show of sportsmanship!"

"It's beautiful Marsh; really is." The grinning Seth leaned his head to the side in a light nod of agreement.

–

2

The seasoned soldier quickstepped to her right side and pulled back her right arm to hover its slim and callous hand over her raised left; as her fingers opened up into inviting palms she narrowed her hot-pink eyes forward, the ground shaking lightly from the energy she was calling. The far-off Link gave out a surprised exclamation as he stumbled lightly before re-asserting himself and glaring forward at his opponent.

"I don't think so!" He called forward, pointing his left finger forward as he leant his body to the side. "I ain't givin' you the time you need to make that work!"

With little else dotting his introduction, the young Hylian leapt forward to charge toward her; Amaliya widened her eyes as the pulsating Aegir within her palm, also a flushing rose colour, lit up the very field in a powerful tint that left the audience cheering and the rushing Link wide-eyed.

"Steel-feather WAVE!"

WHOOSH-FRRRRR-KRRRRRASSSSHHH

The audience all let out distressed yells and screams as the very ground itself was rent from the woman's incredible discharge of power; a huge and meaty-looking wave of Aegir and Quintessence shot forward in the wide-eyed Link's way, essentially barring and preventing him from advancing any further. The blonde boy dropped his surprised frown into a hardened one and he set his legs aside from one another, arms rose up in a defensive cross as if to block the incoming blast.

"There's no way he's gonna block that!" Barkner called out from the competitor's box, his own muscled arms similarly risen up to block the intense shaking and wind that Amaliya's fearsome technique kicked up. "It's just too much!"

"For once I agree!" Alwyn nodded, talking above the din of the screaming Steel-feather Wave as well as the shouting audience out in the stands. "I don't see this turning out-"

"Give him time!"

The Goron and Zora, both legitimately surprised by the source of optimism and by extension a disagreement, swung their heads 'round, only to find the ever folded-armed Raynard staring back in an eye-narrowed frown.

"He'll find a way!"

Honestly surprised that the words of positivity and encouragement came from Raynard of all people and the boy's very rival himself, the pair of companions couldn't help but exchange surprised looks together before returning their attention to the battlefield.

As the ground rumbled threateningly from the powerfully-pink ball of fire and wind, it fairly quickly found its quick advance halted; the watching crowd of Aurelians and Hylians all gasped out as it crashed directly with the narrow-eyed Link's small form. It was a sight to behold; as small as he was in stature it did little to tip the scales in the large sphere's favour for even as the blonde boy was slowly pushed backward, tiles scraping up as he did, he channelled his own Aegir into his raised fists with which to help him reflect the technique. Sure enough, as he quickly approached the edge, he widened his ocean-blue eyes and yelled with effort as he deflected his conjoined arms diagonally toward the sky as if he were swinging his trusty Gilded Sword.

In response, the huge hot-pink Steel-feather Wave was sent careering into the air high above the wide-eyed and yelling audience. As it began to leave the radius of the tournament arena itself, it eventually triggered; almost like a Powder Keg itself it blew up in an incredible show of sparks and explosions, gifting the newly-entertained audience with a fireworks display. Link watched on in grinning satisfaction, clapping his small and calloused hands together as if pleased with the effort.

"I've never seen a wave that huge! God-damn!" The watching Seth yelled out, excited as always as he took a step up on the desk he and his older companion utilised.

"Yes, it's certainly been one of the larger ones the Prima World Tour's seen in a long time!" The ever-smiling Marshall nodded along in modest agreement. "Not since the Hylian Hyrax at any rate!"

Realising he was referencing the last-ditch effort the finalists made at the last national championships, Seth laughed and smacked the front of his forehead as he shook it as if in self-disappointment. "Oh yeah; of course!"

"My turn!"

The shocked woman could only widen her eyes in response to her younger opponent's declaration; she pulled her arms and legs apart from her earlier stance to adopt a more defensive one, only to gasp as the grinning Link's form shimmered in and out of itself as it leapt toward her.

An obvious feint attack into an after-image.

Amaliya shot her hot-pink eyes in swift search to her immediate left but quickly found her frontal face struck by a blinding haymaker, issued on the opposite side she looked on.

SMACK

"Hngh...!"

Time slowed down for the pair; as the re-appeared Link hovered directly over the grunting Amaliya, he managed to send the poor woman into a painful-looking tailspin before he at last followed up with his counter-attack with one last strike. He grinned on in exuberance as he spun his body 'round as he landed into a twisting back-hand blow that struck the gasping military officer a second time, sending her tumbling and rolling across the tiled floor beneath them.

Even while she rolled across the ground, Amaliya used a mixture of her brainpower and her muscles to somersault off the tiles in quick recovery, thereby eliciting the smirking Hero of Time to give chase almost immediately. As he leapt to deliver a deft but fairly telegraphed dive-kick her way, she widened her hot-pink eyes and shot up her slim arms in a wide and curious angle, presumably in preparation. Only the watching Impa and Link himself recognised the pose.

And lose their cheer they did.

"Impossible...!" The Sheikah gasped out, brow rising up to match her shock and surprise. The frowning-faced Malon rose a fire-haired eyebrow as she exchanged her looks with the two before shrugging back at the likewise curious Zelda across from her.

"Impa... what is it?" The Hylian princess pressed her attendant inquisitively, her small and soft hands ever joined in her pink-dressed lap.

"That stance...," Impa began in reply, her ruby-red eyes narrowing again in suspicious concern. "It's one you and the boy should know well..."

Zelda could only furrow her brow in unsure scrutinisation before she turned her examination on the battle below.

~

Sure enough, as the wide-eyed Hero of Time's dive-kick eventually collided with the similarly-faced form of his opponent, she turned her hardened frown into a satisfied smirk and grappled at his legs boldly.

"Predictabo!"

The audience all let out screams and cheers of approval as the similarly shouting Link was essentially parried and dragged across the air like a projectile.

CRASSSSHHHH

As she swung him 'round screaming, his light-voiced tenor eventually cut itself short as he crashed upon the tiled floor beneath him agonisingly, wincing as he did. In the savage collision that followed, the bright-white tiles of the tournament's floor flew skyward and broke apart another section of it completely, leaving yet more destruction in the challengers' wake.

Amaliya turned to cast her glare down on the wide-eyed Link and, as she did, she rose up her right fist and drove it down; the gasping young Hylian darted his body out of her initial wind-up before using a mixture of his channelled Aegir and legs to boost off the floor with, sending him up into a high-flying retreat. The Stralanavian wasted no time in pursuit. She grunted with effort as she essentially imitated his art by vaulting off the ground in immediate chase, hot-fuchsia eyes narrowed as she did.

As she fast-approached his retreating form he shot forward a desperately-launched straight punch that she expertly wove her form out of before following up with her own counter; he turned his shocked gasp and wide-eyed frown to face her hardened one as she swung a debilitating haymaker under and into his lower stomach.

CRACCCKKK

Unable to even gasp and scream from the abrupt source of pain that she delivered, his very form itself hovered in mid-air, also unable to move from the sheer force with which she hit him. Amaliya utilised the inevitable effect that gravity had on them, however, and grunted as she swung her body upside down; Link's oceanic eyes widened on in growing alarm as she wrapped her slim but strong arms 'round his own likewise small form.

As they began to descend down, and rather rapidly at that, Link realised quite suddenly that their faces were within kissing distance; something that the lightly-smiling Amaliya took some twisted sense of pleasure in. She rose her black-haired head up at him briefly as they rocketed down toward the ring, kissing at the air that lay between them as if to tease him before re-opening her mouth presumably to speak to him one last time before at last dropping him.

"Potselui."

The poor young Hylian barely had a second with which to listen to the mezzo-soprano she gifted him with and the foreign language in which she spoke it in, before he found himself barrelling down at high speed into the ground beneath him.

CRRRRAAASSSSHHHHHH...

The audience all let out a mixture of surprised calls and yells as the former Kokiri's form disappeared completely within the display of ruthless destruction; a huge smoke cloud erected around the point of impact, leaving many unsure in the results of it as any remaining tiles and wreckage rained up and down from the brutal crash.

"Unheard of!" The gasping Marshall called out in a wince of his own, speaking his baritone on into the small Gossip Stone he gripped with his right hand. "In an impressively acrobatic manoeuvre indeed, Valentinovna has somehow managed to draw her young opponent into a seismic descent fit only for the greatest of soldiers!"

"Down, down, down!" Seth exclaimed out excitedly, clenching a fist in display of his high-raised morale as he did.

As the smoke cloud from the initial explosion of rock and debris at last dissipated, the frowning-faced Amaliya marched toward her well-chosen point-of-destruction, folding her slim arms as she did. She rose a curious raven-shaded eyebrow as she looked down to find her opponent on the ground, seemingly defeated and unable to move in a face-up position.

"Hmph..."

Unwilling to believe it, she brought her right boot's heel up and stomped down on the boy's centre, drawing shocked reactions not only from the watching audience but from the wide-eyed and gasping Link himself; his mouth hung open and his body jerked up from the abrupt assault she deigned to visit on his sensitive area, eliciting winces and cringes of sympathy from the male side in the public.

"Damn baby...," Link chuckled lowly back as his body reverted to its original position. He shut one sky-blue eye in his defying grin, drawing a surprised look from the former soldier above him. "At least buy me dinner first." He quipped up toward her, drawing a quiet-voiced laugh from her high above him.

"That's gotta hurt!" Seth exclaimed out, wincing similarly to the audience around him. "We all been there at least once!"

"It's certainly a sticky situation!" The grinning Marshall joked alongside his younger comrade, drawing a hearty laugh from him in response as well as the audience by extension.

"Oh my..."

Zelda's half-smirking words of social shyness were spoken to match the embarrassed female side of the audience; her hand resting softly across her mouth almost as if to dissuade herself from speaking any further on it. While the watching Impa merely rolled her eyes in light annoyance, the watching Malon furrowed her brow down at them, placing her hands on her white-dressed hips.

"Hey! That's not legal!" She called out, double-taking in the Sheikah's direction to her immediate left, her brow soon returning to its normal position. "I-Is it...?"

"Yes I'm afraid so," Impa answered, frowning as she always did in her folded-armed expression. "So long as their lives aren't endangered and she isn't attacking when she's already won the engagement."

Perhaps frustrated by the answer she received, Malon folded her own arms in response and returned her annoyed frown down on the battle below. "Hmph! Sure hope he enjoys it then(!)" She finished in a sarcastic huff, glaring down at the two.

As the grinning Amaliya brought her heel up, arms folded for a second descent, Link widened his ocean-blue eyes and shot up his arms to catch it. The woman widened her own hot-fuchsia eyes in surprise, dropping her grin to convey it successfully, before swiftly finding herself being counter-attacked; Link grinned on in satisfaction as he rose himself to his bare feet and pulled the woman's taller form over him in a swift somersault. She yelled out in a mixture of a surprise and shock, her mezzo-soprano voice quickly silenced by the inevitable crash her body made on the concrete.

SLAMMM...

A shock-wave of the sheer strength that the young Hero of Time put into his grapple travelled out from the sudden wreckage beneath them and was added even further; as Amaliya coughed out a small couple drops of blood she grunted and growled as she reached up with one of her free hands to grasp at the surprised youth's karate gi torso. With no words passing between them she easily tossed him overhead in a similarly-looking assault that saw the young Link screaming as he hit the tournament's floor.

SLAMMM...

In a pair of powerful quakes the sheer earth itself shook from the challengers' strength; something that resonated well within the widely-cheering audience.

Link's bright-cerulean eyes, having been scrunched shut in agony from the previous altercation, snapped wide-open and as they did, he used the short space between them to grapple at the woman's free arm. Amaliya gasped but couldn't act in time to successfully tech the grapple; the blonde boy acted on his momentum and began a low-toned yell of effort as he swung the raven-haired woman's body 'round and 'round, like a spinning Blade Trap from many of the dungeons he navigated.

She grunted as he let go, presumably to send her careering off the edge of the ring, before swiftly engaging her Aegir-control to stop herself mid-flight. The effort of which, however, managed to skid through the tournament floor beneath her and create even more wreckage and debris from their blazing engagement. The audience remained fixed on the fight as the low-grinning Link set his legs and arms apart into what looked like some kind of offensive stance; an aura of dull red-shaded Quintessence quilted his bruised, battered and bloody body as he clenched his fists, presumably powering himself up.

The recovered Amaliya narrowed her fuchsia eyes forward at the boy's intentions suspiciously before she widened them all of a sudden, as an intense and abrupt source of physical agony shot through her lower stomach. The audience, similarly perplexed, all let out surprised calls as they watched the results and sure enough the young Hylian boy had somehow suddenly re-appeared directly in front of her, his right fist resting within her lower stomach so deep it was pushing her body back from within.

"Woah...!" The watching Barkner whispered out, eyes widened. "So fast...!"

"You got that right," Alwyn nodded along in agreement, frowning as he folded his arms in his usual expression. "I couldn't even follow him in that little scuffle."

The listening Raynard, similarly folded-armed and glaring, opted not to speak as he glared into the battlefield with his own examination.

KRSHHHHH...

The watching congregation of Aurelians all let out wincing exclamations as they watched the growling Amaliya somehow recover within the fresh wound she received, only to dish one out of her own; a simple-enough haymaker reversal that found its worth weight in gold, sending the yelling Link hovering briefly up into the air from the sheer strength with which she commanded. Although the blonde boy's palms shook from the agony he suffered, they quickly recovered into a clenched fist of his own, veins pulsating with a fiery eagerness to counter-attack; he slugged forward another less-than-subtle punch directly into the woman's gasping lower stomach a second time, sending her gasping and stumbling back a step.

Amaliya, angered from the exchange, shot her scowling head up to reveal her previously meticulously-crafted bun of hair having spilled out from the savage exchange they shared together; the Stralanavian officer. She widened her hot-pink eyes before grunting again as she fired another punch into the former Kokiri's small body.

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

In a super-fast savage series of smashing strikes the two essentially turned their match in a slug-fest; something that the watching audience all let out excited yells and chants with, rotating between Amaliya and Link's names as if in honour for them.

Eventually, perhaps sick of the even-handed exchanges they gifted one another with, Link grunted as he slammed a bare-footed roundhouse into the woman's chin; a gesture she responded in kind with.

KRSHHH...

KRSHHH...

The super-fast pair of fighters found themselves tailspinning in sheer agony from the sudden kicks they visited upon one another. As they landed, however, they fairly quickly took to the sky together, both bloodied and battered from their ruthless trades together. Wasting no time, Amaliya narrowed her eyes as she dove-kick toward the boy's hovering form, her long black hair spilling out behind her as she did.

CRACCCK

"Ngh...!"

As the grunting Hero of Time was sent a few more yards skyward, drops of blood falling from his shut mouth, he somersaulted backward in mid-air before re-opening his eyes and widening them as he swung his free right opened palm in a diagonal motion as if to toss something forward. Amaliya's eyes widened when she realised it was a pulsating orb of fire-shaded Aegir and, having already committed herself to a sky dive-kick, was unable to react in time.

FRRRR-CRASSSHHH...

Her body coated in the same bright-light fire that filled Link's projectile, the scrunching-eyed shut Amaliya found herself descending down in a rapid tailspin marked only by a wide angle of smoke from the inevitable crash-landing that followed. Although still conscious, and barely at that, the gasping Link dropped down after her in a similar plunge; his Aegir and physical energy having seemingly been near completely exhausted.

"Damn it Link!" The annoyed Impa exclaimed abruptly, eyes narrowed and brow furrowed in her folded-armed frown. The sudden raise of her hard and firm contralto caused the sitting Malon to near jump from the abrupt scare, drawing a similarly surprised reaction from the Hylian princess on the Sheikah's left. "Using all your Aegir so quickly like that...," she muttered out, shaking her silver-shaded head in disapproval. "It's a rookie's mistake!"

FWEEE...

CRASSSSHHHH...

Just as the Sheikah finished her sentence, the shut-eyed blonde at last collapsed to the wrecked arena and ring below him, drawing up a second smoke cloud riddled with wreckage and debris around his small form.

"What an awesome opening round...!" The excited Seth called out from his table clenching his fists in display of his hype. "It could go either way here!"

"As always, my young friend... let's wait until the smoke clears!" Marshall advised his youthful companion in a well-intended chuckling smile.

Sure enough, as the two clouds of differing size dissipated away, allowing all to gaze upon the remnants of the battle's savage aftermath. Rather amazingly the two contenders stood alive and well in likewise positions; Amaliya gasping for air as she gripped at her seemingly injured left arm and the similarly bloody Link, one eye shut presumably from the sheer agony he suffered. Although the pair had unsure injuries one thing was for certain.

This was to be the end of the ruthless engagement.

"It's just as you say Seth; truly an incredible show of skill and sheer stubbornness!" Marshall grinned on in satisfaction as he nodded toward the two warriors. "Although this match began fairly simply it just devolved into a damn slug-fest!"

"Can't go wrong with a slug-fest though Marsh!" Seth countered in a friendly swinging smile, drawing a laugh from the older man.

"Right you are!"

"In-"

Link's eyebrows rose up in surprise, his pained frown transforming into a curious one as he beheld the coughing woman before him; she grunted mid-speech, wincing from the seeming agony her body suffered.

"Incredible...," she began again, this time in a well-meaning grin of her own. "I... how you say... underestimated you... for your age..."

Link chuckled back good-naturedly, shrugging lightly as he did. "Ain't the first time," he answered, seemingly feeling in slightly better shape to his older opponent. "It's how I win a lot of these, to be honest."

"I'll bet," the Stralanavian woman smirked back knowingly and flirtatiously, drawing a similarly satisfied grin in response. At last, however, she chose to rise up her left arm. "I... give up!"

–

3

The woman's words, not only surprising for her wide-eyed blonde opponent to hear, but also for the shocked audience and co-commentators; everyone all exchanged unsure looks, doubtful on how to handle such a reaction. Amaliya let her grin precede her as she chose to follow-up on her carefully picked words.

"They weren't lying when they said you were stronger than even your country gave you credit for...," Amaliya grinned on knowingly in her thick accent, drawing a surprised frown from the listening Link. "I am... how you say...," she began again, licking her lips hungrily as she did. "Vklyuchennyy..."

The listening Link could only tilt his straw-haired head to the side in unsure curiousness, drawing similar blanks that the watching audience did.

"What the hell does that mean Marsh?" Seth pressed his co-commentator with, rising a brown-haired eyebrow in his rude line of questioning as he did.

"It's, um...," the older man began in a similar doubtful-faced grin, embarrassed by the woman's words. "They're not family-friendly words... let's leave it at that." Marshall finished in a light tilt of his own brown-haired head, chuckling awkwardly as he did, drawing laughs from the listening congregation in the stands surrounding them.

"Oh it's one of those words is it?!" Seth called out excitably, turning his grin on the pair.

Although he couldn't quite translate the Stralanavian in which the woman spoke, he got a fairly decent idea that the origin of her words wasn't quite so pure as he had suspected; the results of which left him red in the face to match the bloody bruises she gifted him with.

"Amaliya Valentinovna surrenders! This game's winner is Link Firbrand!" The young woman referee called out behind the pair, smiling as she entered the wrecked ring to announce the end of the match.

The audience all cheered on in expectant approval for the victory of their first round winner, drawing a simple smile from the listening Amaliya; she merely used her free right hand to wipe off the remaining dust that had gathered on her near-torn clothes before beginning to march toward the surprised Link. He frowned in her direction, one eye still shut from the agony she visited upon it earlier and could only gasp in further consternation as she reached down her tall form to close the distance between them.

The audience all watched on in curiosity as she leaned down, presumably to whisper something in the blonde boy's small and pointed ear, soon eliciting what appeared to be an even deeper shade of red adorning his cheeks.

Whatever she had said had seemingly made its mark.

"Hey! What does she think she's doing?!" Malon exclaimed out from her seat, high in the stands, annoyed. She cast her similarly frustrated frown down on the close pair below, brow furrowed and all. "The match is over!"

Impa rolled her fire-red eyes in response, sighing lightly in display of her own frustration. "So long as they aren't tearing one another open I don't think they're in breach of their match." The Sheikah spoke in her sigh. Malon double-took in the wiser woman's direction, her frown twitching in knowing annoyance.

"Even if they look fairly suspicious in ending it..." The grinning Zelda finished it, not without some form of mirth and amusement to her expression as she rose up her right fingers to rest under her nose.

As the grinning-faced Amaliya walked off toward the competitor's box, presumably for a medic, she left her red-faced opponent with a knowing silent smirk over her shoulder as she marched along. The standing Link could barely respond with a gesture, let alone words; in his great embarrassment, in spite to his normal cavalier-like attitude, he found himself in a zig-zag frown unable to find the words with which to reply to her thought-provoking words.

"Another well-fought match! Well done lad!"

The young Hylian gasped in his throat as he swung his small and battered form 'round only to find the ever-smiling Marshall joining him on the wreckage that was once the tournament arena, linked as always by his younger comrade; the grinning Seth. The older man smiled on as he spoke into his small Gossip Stone, his baritone echoing out along the audience's stands.

"A slug-fest if I ever saw one! How did you manage to keep up with her?!" He called out, legitimately curious as he lowered the Gossip Stone for the boy to speak into. Link blinked down at it doubtfully before he realised the entire arena was watching him; sure enough, his usual moxie and attitude returned to him and he regained the ever-constantly overconfident grin upon his face as he even snagged the small stone from Marshall's surprised hands.

"Well when you as fast as me I guess all that's left to do is throw in the towel!" The young Hylian shot back as he began to pace forward, right arm and opened-palm both rose up half-way as he spoke. The audience reacted in a way that suited them; a resounding cheer of laughs and bellows of approvals almost as if to agree with the charismatic boy.

Mildly annoyed by his decision to snag his Gossip Stone from him, Marshall walked forward and reached to grab it from the boy's grip; a small humorous tug-of-war began between the pair, drawing entertained laughs from the watching crowd and even the grinning Seth. Eventually, however, the well-dressed Marshall revelled in the control he attained over his voice-amplifier.

"A bold statement for so young a boy!" Marshall smiled on, rising an eyebrow upward. "Can we say we saw all of your new techniques here today?"

Link grinned back sheepishly, chuckling well-naturedly as he rubbed the back of his pony-tailed head, oceanic eyes shut as he did. "Nah, I'm kiddin'; I nearly lost that fight in all seriousness," he answered before re-opening his eyes in a surprised frowning blink. "Oh... uh, no. Obviously." He re-answered, this time regaining his happy-go-lucky grin.

"Yo, little man!"

The grinning Link dropped his expression in favour of another curious-faced frown, blinking in the direction of the smirking-faced Seth. He drove down his own Gossip Stone for the boy to speak through, as if to get his opinion on something else.

"So what'd Amaliya tell you?" The young man pressed, eyebrow risen up as the audience all let out whoops and yells in response. Realising the commentator's intention, Link's bashful side returned and in full-flow with a red-faced wince; he turned his eyes away from Seth's, unwilling to answer so easily. "We're all dyin' to know!"

The zig-zag-faced Link quickly realised that the disapproving Malon and amused Zelda were both watching him in the audience somewhere and not knowing how they were taking this news impacted his ability to deliver it.

"U-Um... n-nothin' really... just a 'good games' and, y'know..."

"Now I wish I knew what she said; you know it's juicy!" Seth called out, drawing his form back up to laugh with the similarly amused crowd around him. "What a gyp!"

"An excellent showing, to be sure," Marshall chuckled lightly, nodding his head in the frowning boy's direction almost as if to approve his decision to leave. Sure enough, the young Hylian gratefully took the Aurelian man's offer and turned to scamper off toward the competitor's box. "And what a first round!" He called out again, drawing another morale-filled cheer from the audience. "Don't go away folks; round two is coming right up!"


	13. A Run through the Higher Bracket: Alwyn VS. Katina

Chapter 13: A Run Through the Higher Bracket; Alwyn VS. Katina  
Pathos of the Palashian Premier Arc  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.  
Featured Music: "High Score Results ~{Taito Type X²}" - Ultra Street Fighter IV OST. Chapter Briefing.  
"Sunshine Coastline" - Falcom Acoustics Album 2. Scene 1 (First Half).  
"Character Select" - Street Fighter IV (Vanilla) OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).  
"Starry Story" - Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- OST. Scene 2 (First Half).  
"Conquest" - Fire Emblem XIII: Awakening OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).  
"Give Me a Break" - Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- OST. Scene 3 (First Half).

\--

Having placed their feet squarely within the reaches of the neighbouring kingdom of Palashia, Link and his companions soon find themselves deep in an oddity indeed; when securing rooms for themselves to stay at, they are approached by a nearby miner by name of 'Paul', near begging them for assistance in finding the rest of his missing colleagues.

As expected the heroes take on the duty of finding the missing miners as well as the similarly missing mayor himself; a man by the name of Lavrentius Marino. It is only during their investigation, however, that Link and the suspicious Impa soon come into contact with the less-than-sociable Raynard himself; a revelation that Impa herself cannot help but comment on.

Link, however, as always speaks up for his awkward older friend.

While they rest and relax a Wolfos, larger than any even the Hero of Time himself has seen before, appears before them; whether it was called by their scents or somehow summoned by another party entirely is left up for debate however.

With no other sources of information, the thoughtful Impa can only speculate.

Teaming up with Raynard the group easily put the gargantuan Wolfos to the sword and save what remains of the nearby miners as well as the mayor himself; an act of generosity that is repaid in kind. For their acts, the non-combatants of the group are given close seats to watch the action in full-flow; an act that the group thank him gratefully for, given the tournament's fairly popular choice in venue.

As with the previous national championships, the Hylian Hyrax, Link, Alwyn, Barkner and Raynard all break through the preliminaries with ease; a mere formality that sees the heroes in exceptional shape with which to win the tournament. Rather surprisingly however, it is during the numbering in which they are given that the wide-eyed Hero of Time is lightly surprised himself in the number and 'Block' he is placed in.

一

Translated from ancient Hylian – 'one', in other words, Link is placed into Block 'A', having been placed in Block 'B' in his original endeavour. He is paired with the enigmatic Stralanavian woman by name of 'Amaliya Valentinovna'; like the former Stralanavian in the Hylian Hyrax, Kaiser, Amaliya is also a former military officer and one in a rank even seemingly higher than he.

What follows between them is not a mere match but a slug-fest; in their eventual engagement the pair near kill one another with their sheer stubborn wills, one near as bad as the other before even the audience themselves are shocked by the outcome. In another shocking reveal, the hardened Amaliya agrees to lay down her fists in surrender to the blonde boy; something that not only surprises the co-commentators themselves but her young opponent, essentially allowing him to progress into the next seed of his bracket.

After leaving him with a rather suggestive message not meant for young ears, Amaliya joins the rest of the watching audience in witnessing the next round; another explosive one involving a local Palashian, Katina Agarista and the group's Zoran companion. Alwyn Weirson.

Link attempts, with some difficulty, to rid himself of the embarrassing sensations his last opponent left on him as his good friend's next match slowly approaches...

\--

Scene 1

"If I were just ten years younger... or you were ten years older..."

The little hairs on the back of Link's neck stood on end and he shivered, almost as if afraid of something and yet no fear ran through him, as he thought of the last parting words that Amaliya left him with. It was a special kind of embarrassment and unease that reminded him of his experiences with Nabooru and Shalia of the desert in his first journey across his homeland.

"If only they could be talkin' to you now..."

The Hylian boy, surprised, shot up his red-faced frown only to find the watching Barkner staring back at him in his folded-armed grin.

"I-If only who could be talkin' to me now?" He parroted back, curious. The knowing Goron exchanged his humorous grin with the listening Alwyn whom huffed in his usual hardened exterior, eyes shut.

"Those two girls you're danglin' by your fingers!"

Oh, he thought, wandering his eyes away from the Goron in realisation.

His frustration grew with his companions' need to embarrass and tease him.

You'd think they'd be over it by now, he thought; it's already been over a couple years since they knew one another.

He stopped himself mid-thought however, quickly realising his mistakes in calculating the actual flow of temporal time, soon gaining a grin to his face as he shut his oceanic eyes and shook his blonde-haired head.

"Zelda... you really messed with the time-space continuum in sendin' me back like this..."

Although he knew in his heart that the Zelda from this time would have no recollection of doing such a thing, it was difficult to think of them as different people and yet they were; in so, so many differing ways.

There is one thing though, he thought as he turned his body 'round, his long pony-tail of blonde hair blowing as he stood in the hallway of the competitor's box, his eyes fixated on the far-off girl in the stands ahead.

They both share that look, he added silently to himself.

It was hard to imagine her without it.

She caught his stare and double-took in his direction, seemingly in a discussion with Impa, and she rose up her left hand to lightly wave her fingers at him softly, tilting her head as she did.

He couldn't help but chuckle through his nose, his smile returning to him as great waves of nostalgia filled him; the boy rose up his left hand to salute lightly over toward her in his own display of recognition, his head lightly tilted in a similar fashion.

"That's sweet!" Barkner's commentary added to the situation, drawing an eventual chuckle from the listening Link. "He noticed her lookin'!"

"Come on guys," the grinning Hero of Time batted back as he 'rounded his form on his pair of companions behind him, placing a small hand on his hip as he did. "We're just friends and we're only eleven!" He added, shrugging in his wide smile. "We're just kids!"

"Twelve."

Link blinked curiously in response to the sudden response his Zoran companion gave. "Huh?"

"Princess Zelda is around twelve I believe," Alwyn spoke in his shut-eyed frown, slim blue arms folded as he did. "Not eleven."

The disgruntled youth's frown twitched a little and he wandered his cobalt eyes from the Zoran awkwardly. "Oh," he began in his twitch. "Well, still!" He reinforced his earlier statement in a similarly-posed frown of his own, eyes briefly shut as he did. "Guys and girls can be friends ya know!"

"Yeah we may as well lay off ya," Barkner chortled sagaciously. "You'll only have a few more years to just act like a kid before she puts the chains on ya I bet." The Goron finished, turning a wink this time on the frowning-faced Alwyn whom turned his frown into a swift low-held smirk as he huffed alongside the Goron in amusing agreement.

Link rolled his oceanic eyes but kept the similarly amused smirk he held to join his friends' joy.

At least things are better in this time, he thought.

"I never thought I'd be able to take part in the Prima World Tour when I was workin' with Sheik in the horror days of the Hylianis Militaris Ordinis."

"Don't forget our princess either."

Alwyn's sudden comment, ever firm in its delivery, managed to yank the surprised Link out of his lightly-grinning thoughts. He turned his newly-gained frown up on the Zoran, curious again.

"Huh?" He merely answered with.

"I said don't forget our princess either," Alwyn reiterated, this time in a lightly-amused smile. "She's got her heart set on that sapphire she gave to you as her engagement ring."

Realising the former soldier was referring to his peoples' princess and the young Ruto, Link found his zig-zag-like frown return to him in a weakened wince that flavoured the rest of his words.

"Urgh... don't remind me..." He muttered out.

The listening Barkner reared his rocky-bodied head back and laughed uproariously.

~

"Hello and welcome back ladies and gentlemen! If you're just joining us we're already one round deep into the Palashian Premier; the very national championships themselves!"

Mr. Marshall's authoritative baritone knocked off the large walls of the tournament arena and of the nearby Palashian palace at that as well, the power of the Gossip Stones he spoke into bold if anything.

"It's ya boys, Tasty Seth and Mr. Marshall!" The self-proclaimed Tasty Seth, a younger man grinned on out next to the contrastingly well-dressed co-commentator. "And we're comin' at you live from Palashia Palace!"

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH

Almost as if a sheer war cry from a battle-hungry crowd, the audience responded in kind to the young man's morale-raising words of wisdom, leaving the smiling Marshall to continue where his young friend left off.

"Last we left we had Stralanavia's mysterious siren on deck... the former soldier herself, Amaliya Valentinovna!" Marshall claimed, ever in his well-natured baritone.

"That's one hell of a mouthful eh Marsh?" Seth laughed next to the man, his jolly and youthful attitude shining the older man on; he chortled and nodded along in light agreement before continuing.

"A fierce warrior to be sure folks but she had the privilege of being paired up with the youngest record breaker taking part within the Prima World Tour!" Marshall smiled on. "The fire-brand Firbrand himself; Link Firbrand!"

YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHH

"Just listen to that crowd Marsh," Seth grinned out, leaning back in his chair as he shook his brown-haired head toward the many audience stands that surrounded them. "They love that little terror!"

"Indeed they do Seth and I can certainly see why," the chuckling Marshall nodded a second time in his agreement. "He's certainly found his foothold within the Prima World Tour as the world martial arts' youngest record-breaker! It's certainly nothing to be sniffed at."

"So he just glides on to the next seed! And we got a special match this round ladies and germs!" The grinning-faced Seth continued on for his older friend. He briefly faced the man and, receiving a smiling nod from him in response, he opted to resume. "You know him, you all love him... it's Alwyn Weirson!"

Just as the audience all let loose their next barrage of cries in approval, one of the many stones of laminite littered around the lower end of the ring all shot up displays of a coloured pictograph on the tournament walls. A slim blue-skinned man stared back at the audience, body leant to the side in his folded-armed frown; obviously a Zoran with the tell-tale fins, his injured head-fin hanging down over the back of his neck.

Noted underneath his pictograph, of course, were his tournament statistics.

Alwyn Weirson

Combination Damage: A

Agility: S+

Punishment Proficiency: S

"This guy's a damn shark Marsh!" The grinning Seth called out, clenching a fist as he spoke, ever in excitement. "In every match he's shown us a new fighting style! I love it!"

"He's certainly a versatile one, that's for sure," Marshall chuckled on amiably. "In his run through the Hylian Hyrax, Weirson left an incredible impression to be sure; only the eventual champion of that particular national championship managed to beat him in the end!"

"And what a set that was...," Seth laughed along, lightly tilting his head as he did. "I didn't even know you could do drunken fighting!"

"Most definitely; it's a fairly interesting style of martial arts," Marshall nodded in agreement, smiling as always. "I imagine it may be a style he'll have to incorporate!"

"And why's that Marsh?"

Just as soon as the two men had finished speaking, the former Zoran soldier's pictograph quickly shifted to another's; a young woman's in a contrasting smile. She appeared to wear a simple loose-fitting white top that was short enough for comfortability in the breezy Palashian weather, shorts, fingerless gloves and simple-enough boots resting on her feet.

Katina Agarista

Grapple Countering: A

Agility: A

Side-Stepping: S

"Katina is a young go-getter with ambitions of winning the Palashian nationals!" The smiling Marshall began, leaning his brown-haired head to the side as he spoke. "Although she may be new at the game, she's no less experienced; in her climb through the preliminaries she's managed to break a few bones in the process with her family's brutal martial arts' style!"

"This match-up sounds like it'll be a fun one Marsh!" The grinning Seth chuckled on next to him. "It's gonna be experience up against youth!"

"It shall be at that, my young friend." Marshall chuckled good-naturedly alongside the excitable young man.

As the two competitors stepped out to the cheering crowd surrounding them, they both swung their heads 'round to give one another a brief look. Alwyn, ever in his tell-tale business-like frown, bowed respectfully forward, drawing a simple-smiling bow of her own from the contrastingly-expressed Katina. She rose up her gloved fists to her sides as if to prepare as the former Zoran soldier set his finned arms on his sides, readying himself. As always, the tournament staff stepped out from the side and rose up his hands.

"Red side, ready!"

The smiling-faced Katina nodded her head in enthusiastic agreement, briefly re-eyeing her opponent across from her.

"Blue side, ready!"

Alwyn, still in his hardened frown, nodded in a slow gesture of his own agreement.

"Begin!"

–

2

Almost as soon as the gong was rung, as per the normal rules regarding the Prima World Tour's tournament matches, the frowning-faced Katina shot up her palms to clap together soundly and widened her deep-brown eyes as she did.

"Aegir Art; Unseen Vapour!"

Her high-toned soprano knocked against the walls of Palashia's palace itself and, just like magic, a small cloud of what appeared to be liquefied mist crawled out from beneath her boots.

Clearly it was an evasive technique.

Thankfully however it also appeared to take time to operate; the narrow-eyed Alwyn noted it and, with a quick lowering of his injured head-fin, he darted forward to launch a quick offensive. Katina clocked him coming and shot her own form swiftly across the newly re-tiled ring, her boots skidding and causing a second smoke to creep out from her as she did.

The former Zoran soldier tracked her movement and furrowed his brow in concentration as he leapt up in a high-rise flurry of kicks; the wide-eyed Katina gasped as she shot up her gloved palms to swat them away in safe success. As Alwyn landed however he grunted as he swung another kick, this one a roundhouse, in a wide and sweeping motion that went over the ducking Palashian woman's head; she deftly shot her auburn-haired head downward to avoid the wide roundhouse before rising up her fingerless-gloved hands to swat away the next series of quick kicks the Zoran threw her way.

She spun her nimble form in a sway around the ring, frowning as she re-adjusted her stance by lowering both arms to rest at her sides. Alwyn narrowed his eyes a second time as he back-dashed briefly, almost as if to create some space between the pair, before he eventually grunted in effort as he shot his boot forward in a mule-like donkey kick filled with physical strength and mingled with sea-blue Aegir.

Katina widened her chestnut eyes as she saw it coming however and twisted her arms together as she wrapped them 'round the shock-expressed Zoran's exposed leg. She let out a satisfied-looking smile and gifted the older warrior with a light wink, before yelling out in effort as she abruptly swung both slim arms 'round in a deft twisting spiral, sending the gasping Alwyn tailspinning madly in the air as a result.

As the narrow-eyed Zoran athletically twisted his slim legs 'round himself in an effort to wake his form up, he used his twirling legs to spin up as he stood to his feet before swiftly diving his lower left leg in a three-kick-assault.

FWIPFWIP

FWIP

The glaring Katina shot her eyes downward as she parried them all fairly expertly before deftly spinning her form into a yelling roundhouse that connected into the gasping Alwyn's torso. As he was sent back into the air, arms and legs splayed out, time seemed to slow down for the watching audience and the competitors themselves. When its flow returned to normal however, the frowning-faced Zoran's form briefly lit up into a lightly-grinning glare before it exploded in a surprising splash of water.

"W-Wha-?!"

Katina's worried cry went unanswered as she watched her opponent's slim form vanish into water itself; almost as quickly as the multi-form copy of Alwyn made of water dissolved back into aqua rain, two tell-tale fins that flew from the former soldier's forearms nicked the young woman's face and body, knocking her off-balance.

It wasn't much, but it was all he needed; the re-appearing form of the narrow-eyed soldier slammed his elbow deep into the young woman's vulnerably-open gasping torso, sending her stumbling back a few steps. She shot her auburn-haired head up and bore her teeth in brief annoyance before driving a fist forward in brief offence; the narrow-eyed Alwyn parried the blow by lightly slapping her fist to the side with his right and moving in with his left to counter-attack.

The young woman grinned this time however and used a combination of the Aegir on her slapped arm and her remaining one to latch onto the wide-eyed Alwyn's arm and, thus, his body itself; the watching audience all cheered in realisation and excitement as they did. As the Quintessence pulled in the wide-eyed Zoran's body, invisible to the human eye itself, Katina grunted with effort as she shot her knee into the gasping man's face.

"What a counter-attack!" The watching Marshall called out excitedly, clenching a fist as he leant forward to narrow his eyes at the action before him. "With her initial assault parried and essentially deflected, a mere feint in and of itself, Katina follows up her attack with another deception by channelling her Aegir as a weapon to draw her enemy in!"

"She's got the touch Marsh!" The grinning Seth exclaimed in a bright laugh.

As the gasping Alwyn was sent flying from the ferocity of the counter-assault, he landed in a side-roll, wincing as he did. As half-expected the wide-eyed Katina grunted as she leapt up high into the air, presumably in pursuit, her long white top billowing briefly in the blowing wind as she did. In a savage descent she plummeted down in a ruthless smash with her fist, easily eating up any white-tiled floor where the wide-eyed Alwyn once was. He rolled swiftly to his immediate left and began a chain of quick-rolling as the growling young woman kept her tenacious offensive up; it was only when the slim blue Zoran's form started to come into view of the edge of the arena, that he widened his ocean-shaded eyes and shot up his left foot diagonally and athletically to slam in his similarly-surprised opponent's face. Having opted to go full-pelt in her earlier offensive, Katina gasped as the Zoran's boot struck her chin; just far enough to send her stumbling another few steps back from her lightning-quick sprint.

Alwyn narrowed his eyes and, as he pushed up off the ground with both arms, he managed to use his Aegir to stand up quicker than it normally would have taken him; an invaluable asset to the fight. Even as the gasping Katina spun 'round in her stumbling however she grunted as she swung a fierce roundhouse in retaliation; Alwyn, granted a mere fraction of a second from his recovery, shot up both arms to block and was sent skidding backward from the comeback she gifted him with.

SKRRRRRRR

Smoke shot up from his boots to join the freshly-laid tiles that flew up into the air from the velocity in which he travelled; always an eyesore for the poor Prima staff members laden with the job of repairing the ring after every match. Katina, wasting no time at all, opted to leap forward toward him in another offensive, twisting her gloved arms around expertly as if to prepare them. Alwyn glared back at her before grunting in effort as he slammed the ring itself below him, Aegir powering his boots and feet, effectively vaulting him high into the air to safe retreat.

Katina growled in irritation as her wide-angle and horizontal haymaker swiped through the air harmlessly, casting her auburn-eyed glare up after the man before leaping up similarly to pursue. The young Palashian woman, with her patience quickly run dry, yelled out in effort as she pulled back her left fist and shot it forward to attack with. Seeing it coming, the former Zoran soldier used his very Aegir itself to alter his flight-trajectory ever-so-slightly; just enough to have his slim form avoid the strike.

An act that looked like a basic side-step, in spite to the great level of command it took in Quintessence control to manage such a technique.

With her arm now essentially exposed Katina widened her eyes as the man above her pulled her in toward him; he widened his own eyes as he began to, at first, spin slowly through the air. Soon enough however his tempo accelerated, and even the watching audience all let out roars of approval as he used the fearsome velocity he gathered to toss her careering form back whence she came.

WHIIIIIINE...

CRRRRASSSHHHHH... RUMBLE-RUMBLE

~

The Aurelian audience all let out mixed yells of distress and entertainment as they watched the savage clouds of smoke and debris bounce off the invisible walls of Aegir, previously erected by the tournament staff as a measure of protection following the first national championship.

"Oooh that's gotta hurt!" The watching Seth winced out from his seat and table.

"Impressive! Truly impressive!" The contrastingly smiling-faced Marshall began from his own seat, placing his hands horizontally across the table in front of him. "While in mid-air, our challenger Alwyn decided to evade his incoming enemy's assault by channelling just enough Aegir to his form in an effort to alter his relatively straight flight-path," he chuckled. "Truly an impressive display of Aegir-control!"

"You can do that?!"

The frowning Impa and Zelda both swung their heads 'round to find the surprised Malon casting her eye to the sky, high above to watch the floating Alwyn as he slowly descended back down to the ring following his savage counter-attack. The listening Sheikah nodded in response.

"Of course," she answered knowledgeably, armoured arms folded as always. "It's honestly not that difficult once you start to get the hang of Aegir-control."

"Being able to change your trajectory in mid-air...," the frowning Zelda whispered, turning her blue-eyed gaze to the sky as she watched the Zoran descend back down, arms blown upwards by the wind. "I had no idea that was possible."

"You should," Impa countered, this time in a light grin as she rose a silver-shaded eyebrow over at her. "Your particular ability of Aegir-control was exceptional in the training I've given anyone."

"B-But what about Link's-?"

The Sheikah snorted in her amused grin. "Is that a joke?" She batted back. "That boy doesn't have a single sensitive bone in his body; to be able to weave Aegir as expertly as Alwyn just demonstrated is a level I fear he'll never reach. You may though."

The Hylian princess could only stare back in a genuinely-surprised frown. "O-Oh..." She murmured out, lowering her blonde-haired head in thought.

"Why?" Malon shot back curiously, fire-haired eyebrow of her own rising up. "I mean how hard can it be?"

Impa laughed lightly as she turned her head to her right to re-face the young farm girl, grinning on as she spoke. "Administering control of Aegir is a skill comparable to those of a surgeon's or a doctor's; it takes considerable precision and delicacy that some people just don't have."

"Damn...," the foul-mouthed girl blinked back before turning her surprised-eyed frown on the recovered Alwyn. "You wouldn't think that kind of delicate touch would come from a guy that used to be a soldier."

Impa chuckled back, tilting her head lightly in agreement. "Indeed..."

–

3

As the listening audience at last recovered from the challengers' last exchange they were given the time and space with which to move; an act that they did not squander. As opposed to Alwyn's previous defensive play, he opted this time to meet the narrow-eyed Katina's offensive charge head-on with a leap forward himself; the pair met in mid-air and, as they did, their bodies moved at such a speed that even the watching fighters from the competitor's box had a little trouble following them.

An act that was subtle enough were one watching; the frowning-faced Link, Barkner and Raynard alone darted their eyes around the ring in quick succession, attempting to follow the lightning-quick pair.

As Alwyn's new offensive managed to push the surprised Katina back toward the ring's edge, she widened her eyes as she shot her body swiftly to the side in an attempt to evade the Zoran's quick boot. The former soldier used his momentum to continue his blinding offence and landed uncomfortably next to her; the young Palashian woman gasped as he bent his slim body to the right and reached down with his open-palmed hands to grasp at her own.

She found herself unable to respond and widened her eyes back at the man as he inevitably shot up one of his free arms to swipe at her cheek. She growled in annoyance before, this time, responding in kind; in a super-fast whoosh of air she jabbed back with one of her own arms and, like his assault, hers met with success. The watchful Aurelian audience all witnessed on in baited breath as two new freshly-gained cuts formed on their cheeks; marks of their martial arts.

Angered by the display, Katina yelled out in effort as she kicked at the ground in a wide-angle sweep; the glaring Alwyn clocked the telegraphed low assault coming and bent his body forwards as he leapt up to grapple at her. She could only gasp a second time, auburn-brown eyes widened back at him as he held onto her like glue, before eventually his own ocean-shaded eyes widened and he sent both his legs deep into her in a vaulting back-flip kick.

FWIP

"HYA!"

As he flipped endlessly backward to recover in relative safety, the poor Katina wasn't quite so lucky; injured rather inconsequentially by the assault, she instead found herself skidding hopelessly toward the north-west corner of the ring and essentially toward a ring-out disqualification. Although she shot her arms down to rake at the tiles beneath her savagely to slow her rapid motion she widened her eyes in further shock when a nearby pair of blades came boomeranging after her, both on her left side.

Having obviously thrown the blades from his forearms previously, and as a way to prevent her inevitable escape, Alwyn narrowed his ocean eyes forward before shooting both slim arms to his sides. A powerful aura of similarly blue-coloured Aegir filled his form as he glared back at the gasping Katina.

"Ohhh snap!" The watching Seth called out from his table, excited as always; he clenched a fist in display of his endless enthusiasm. "What's this I wonder?!"

"It looks as if our boy Weirson has opted to prevent his opponent's escape!" The smiling-faced Marshall began loudly in response, nodding on as he spoke. "Both with his initial kicks and now with a combination of his forearm-blades and an Aegir technique! But of what kind?!"

"I can't wait for this one!" Seth laughed out. "You in trouble darlin'!"

The young man's humorous shout caused the listening audience to laugh in entertained smiles as they awaited the wide-eyed Alwyn's next move.

Sure enough, the former Zoran soldier at last acted on his next technique; he yelled out in seeming great effort as he slammed both charged arms into the tiled ground beneath him, easily eating up what remained of the poor destroyed ring below, opening his mouth with which to speak his next assault.

"Shark-scale SURGE!"

The listening Katina widened her eyes yet again in growing horror, her arms rose up to block the blades that inevitably came flying toward her. A low rumbling began to emit beneath her and she gasped a third time as she snapped her auburn-haired head down to the source of the noise. Sure enough, it grew louder, and she yelled out in growing terror as she quickly realised she was unable to move, essentially having been pinned in the north-west corner of the ruined ring.

DROOOOOOOM-CRASSSSHHH-SPLASH

In a beautiful display of water and explosive Aegir indeed, the ground beneath the poor young woman blew apart in a glorious show of ocean and Quintessence; numerous huge-sized plumes of water shot up from the ground beneath her and sent her careering vertically high into the sky. Wet and wounded she could only grunt in agony as her form spun endlessly in suffering; eventually, however, the young woman appeared to either give the ghost up or simply had no more Aegir and energy left to give for as she descended back down she made no effort with which to grip at the arena with.

CRASSSH

The listening audience remained respectfully silent as they watched her body slam agonisingly against the concrete ground next to and below the ring itself; essentially out of bounds.

"Ring out!"

The referee's smiling-faced call made the watching Alwyn raise back up his bleeding head to cast his frown forward in similar respectful silence.

"The winner of this set... is Alwyn Weirson!"


End file.
